The artwork titled “Woman at Her Toilette” is a creation of Edgar Degas, a renowned artist known for his contributions to the Impressionism movement. This piece, which dates back to approximately 1895 – 1900, was crafted using the medium of pastel and can be classified as a genre painting. The genre and medium are indicative of Degas’s broader oeuvre, which often explored everyday scenes and featured creative explorations of color and light.
In this pastel artwork, we observe an intimate moment in a woman’s daily life. She is captured from behind, with her figure bent slightly forward as she engages in the private act of grooming at her toilette. The colors are warm and rich, with textured strokes that create a sense of depth and movement. The setting includes a basin and pitcher, typical of the period, and reflects the focus on modern life that is characteristic of impressionist genre paintings. The woman’s form is rendered with a delicate balance of precision and softness, typical of Degas’s style, while the rich, mottled background and the reflective surfaces of the ceramic objects indicate a careful attention to light and atmosphere.
