“The Bath” is an artwork by Edgar Degas, dating around 1883. This pastel on paper exemplifies Degas’ contribution to the Impressionist movement, featuring the nude painting genre. It measures approximately 50 by 33 centimeters and currently belongs to a private collection.
The artwork presents a female figure in an act of personal care, which is a recurrent subject in Degas’ oeuvre. The composition captures the figure from behind, at a slight angle, engrossed in her intimate ritual. The woman’s posture is informal and natural, a testament to Degas’ inclination to portray moments of everyday life and his fascination with the human form. The use of pastel creates a soft texture that conveys the tactile quality of the skin and materials around the figure. Bold strokes and a harmonious interplay of colors — blues, reds, and earth tones — evoke a sense of warmth and immediacy. While the background is rendered with less detail, contributing to the sense of depth and focus on the central figure. The artist’s mastery in depicting light and shadow enhances the three-dimensionality of the form, while the outline and contours of the figure are both delicate and expressive, demonstrating Degas’ deftness with the pastel medium.
