Bather Stepping into a Tub
Edgar Degas
ca. 1890 · Pastel and charcoal on blue laid paper, mounted at perimeter on backing board · European Paintings
Degas’s interest in the motif of a nude entering the water apparently dates to his student days, when he copied the figure of a man scrambling over a riverbank from an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi after Michelangelo. This is one of seven pastels in which Degas ventured a modern version of the subject. The woman, her arms and legs splayed precariously against a zinc bathtub, powerfully manifests the combination of physical awkwardness and sensuality that characterizes the artist’s depictions of bathers.
- Artist
- Edgar Degas
- Date
- ca. 1890
- Medium
- Pastel and charcoal on blue laid paper, mounted at perimeter on backing board
- Department
- European Paintings
- Credit line
- H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
