After the Bath, Woman drying herself
- Artist: Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas
- Date: about 1890-5
- Medium: pastel on paper, mounted on board
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
"This is 'After the Bath, Woman drying herself' painted in the late 19th century by Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas. This pastel work shows a woman sitting beside a bath, drying her hair. Her pose is ungainly but authentic-looking, making it easy to believe that Degas was present in the woman's room, catching her before she could straighten herself.
This piece is part of a series of nudes that Degas created using pastels after 1880. He wanted to break away from traditional representations of the nude and instead depicted real women engaged in everyday activities like washing or bathing. This was a deliberate attack on tradition, as Degas wrote: 'hitherto the nude has always been represented in poses which presuppose an audience...'
Notice how the woman is almost uncannily alive. Despite being a model, she's kept faceless and anonymous, making us feel like we're intruding on her private moment. The pastel colors are strong and vivid, but nothing softens the impact of the startling red of the woman's hair."
See it in person
After the Bath, Woman drying herself hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
