Minneapolis Institute of Art

Woman in a Bathtub

Edgar Degas; Caster: A.-A. Hébrard et Cie, Paris

Date

1889 (modeled), 1920–21 (cast)

Medium

Bronze

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Taking an unusual approach to the traditional theme of the nude bather, and introducing color into his original wax sculpture (through tinted waxes, a lead ring for the tub’s rim, and plaster-soaked cloth puddled at the tub’s edge), Degas achieved a work of daring modernity. Much of The Tub’s impact, as well as its charm, derives from Degas’s clever way of making a full view possible only from directly overhead. Yet the arrangement of the bather’s arms and legs, combined with her self-absorption as she performs her ablutions, results in a carefree innocence that foils the most prurient gaze. France, Europe

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