The artwork “The Actresses Dressing Room,” crafted by the esteemed artist Edgar Degas around the year 1885, represents a quintessential example of the Impressionism movement. Degas utilized pastel as the medium to create this piece, which depicts an interior scene, typical of his focus on capturing moments of daily life. Currently, this artwork is held in a private collection, away from public exhibition.
In the artwork, viewers are presented with an intimate glimpse into the private space of a dressing room, where the subjects are presumably actresses. The scene is fragmented into different planes of vision, creating a sense of depth. On the left side, an actress is shown with her back to the viewer, bending forward in a state of undress, engaging in the personal act of preparing herself. The strokes of pastel are rendered with soft yet deliberate touches, invoking the transient lighting and mood associated with Impressionism.
The use of color and light in the artwork reflects the Impressionist interest in the effects of light on surfaces, giving the figures a somewhat ethereal quality. The dividable space suggested by the open doorway invites the eye to explore the room beyond, where another figure can be partly seen, thus adding to the storytelling element of the work. The scene is replete with impressionistic elements, such as the immediacy of the moment depicted, the loose and expressive use of the medium, and the capture of everyday life from an unusual perspective.
