“The Savoy Girl” is an oil on canvas artwork created by Edgar Degas in 1860, measuring 61 by 45.7 centimeters. This work belongs to the Impressionist movement and is categorized as a portrait. The artwork can be viewed at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum (RISD Museum), located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
The artwork presents a young girl portrayed from the chest upward, set against a neutral, warmly toned background that enhances the subject’s presence. She is depicted wearing a striking white ruff, which encircles her neck and frames her face with its expansive, ruffled fabric. The ruff is both a focal point and an element that reflects the fashion and social customs of the era. The girl’s dress, with its brown and red tones, is rendered in a manner that balances realism with a softness characteristic of Degas’s style. Her facial expression is contemplative and her gaze slightly averted, capturing the essence of introspection and a serene moment of stillness. The brushwork exemplifies the Impressionist tendency to focus on light and atmosphere over strict representational accuracy. Degas’s handling of texture in the girl’s clothing and the subtle handling of light place the work within the context of the Impressionist movement, even as it acknowledges traditional portraiture conventions.
