Getty Museum
Woman in the Bath Drying her Arm
Creator
Edgar DegasFrench Photographer · 1834–1917
All works by this person →> No art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament . . . I know nothing. > > --Edgar Germaine Hilaire Degas From a wealthy Parisian family, Degas devoted himself exclusively to painting without needing to sell a canvas. His training was conventional: he spent five years in Italy, studied the O
More on Getty ULAN- Date
- 1880s or 1890s
- Medium
- Charcoal
- Culture
- French
- Department
- Drawings
- Institution
- Getty Museum
- Object ID
- 548b63f0-ac4a-437c-854d-646d09c3f237
From the Getty Museum record
In this late drawing, Degas portrays one of his most iconic subjects, a woman bathing. Leaving much of the paper blank, the artist isolates the figure to underscore the intimacy of the scene. However, with the sharp recession of the bathtub and slight perspective from above, Degas also indicates that the bather is not alone. Further, by depicting her from behind, Degas offers the possibility that the woman does not know she is being watched. With this choice, both the artist's and our status as observers is called into question: are we viewers or voyeurs?
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