Woman Combing Her Hair
ca. 1888–90
Medium
Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount
Dimensions
24 1/8 x 18 1/8 in. (61.3 x 46 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Nate B. Spingold, 1956
Accession Number
56.231
Tags
Art Historical Context
Edgar Degas’s *Woman Combing Her Hair* (ca. 1888–90) captures an intimate, everyday moment with the quiet intensity that defines his late career. Though often grouped with the Impressionists,egas preferred working indoors, using pastel to explore the human figure in motion and at rest. Here, a nude woman is shown absorbed in her toilette, her back turned toward the viewer. The composition emphasizes natural gesture over narrative, reflecting Degas’s fascination with the unposed female body. The medium itself is central to the work’s appeal. Degas applied vibrant pastel strokes over light gree...
About the Artist
Edgar Degas · 1834–1917
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) stands as one of the most innovative artists of the nineteenth century, whose distinctive vision transformed how modern life could be depicted on canvas. Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas in Paris to a wealthy banking family—his father French, his mother a Louisiana Creole from New Orleans—Degas received a classical education before abandoning law studies in 1855 to pursue ...