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Lot Essay
The present pastel utilizes a pose frequently seen in Degas oeuvre (fig. 1), that of the nude woman arranging her hair in the moments after her bath. The repeated treatment of a pose is an essential characteristic of Degas's methods in his late works, and can be compared to the series paintings of Monet or the repeated depiction of motifs in the late work of Cézanne.
By the mid-1880s Degas has divested from the theme of aggressive, naturalistic sexuality. As Richard Kendall noted:
Such figures might well suggest "loveliness" and recall classical statuary; rather than being clandestine objects, like the semi-pornographic monotypes, these pastels might reasonably take their place on the walls of respectable homes (R. Kendall, Degas: Beyond Impressionism, exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, 1996, p. 142).
Degas had previously depicted the public life of woman at work or at leisure, and now set about cataloguing the private moments of a woman's life. Stepping into the tub, washing, drying her body and finally arranging her hair.
Degas himself wrote:
Until now the nude has always been presented in poses which assume the presence of an audience, but these women of mine are decent, simple human beings who have no other concern than that of their physical conditon . . . it is as though one were watching through a keyhole (quoted in G. Adriani, Degas pastels, oil sketches, drawings, London, 1985, p. 86).
(fig. 1) Edgar Degas, Femme se coiffant, Private collection.
By the mid-1880s Degas has divested from the theme of aggressive, naturalistic sexuality. As Richard Kendall noted:
Such figures might well suggest "loveliness" and recall classical statuary; rather than being clandestine objects, like the semi-pornographic monotypes, these pastels might reasonably take their place on the walls of respectable homes (R. Kendall, Degas: Beyond Impressionism, exh. cat., The Art Institute of Chicago, 1996, p. 142).
Degas had previously depicted the public life of woman at work or at leisure, and now set about cataloguing the private moments of a woman's life. Stepping into the tub, washing, drying her body and finally arranging her hair.
Degas himself wrote:
Until now the nude has always been presented in poses which assume the presence of an audience, but these women of mine are decent, simple human beings who have no other concern than that of their physical conditon . . . it is as though one were watching through a keyhole (quoted in G. Adriani, Degas pastels, oil sketches, drawings, London, 1985, p. 86).
(fig. 1) Edgar Degas, Femme se coiffant, Private collection.