Toilette after the Bath

Degas depicts a woman who has just got out of the bath – awkwardly moving backwards and with her body only half inside the picture frame. She looks as if she has just let go of the chair with her right hand. Degas’ pastel presents an everyday situation. The cropping of the motif imitates a photographic snapshot capturing the individual moment. Degas is known for his experiments, both in terms of technique and choice of motif. Here the towelling, which the maid is holding ready, fills a large part of the motif and reveals a complicatedly built up layer of pastel colour, closely resembling brushstrokes in an oil painting.