After the Bath (large version)

After the Bath (large version) is a complex and highly regarded print created by Edgar Degas between 1891 and 1892. This impression, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, represents the fifth and final state of the composition. Degas executed the piece using the demanding process of lithography, employing both transfer and crayon techniques upon laid paper, resulting in a rich, velvety texture characteristic of his later graphic works.

Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, Degas repeatedly explored the intimate subject of women bathing or performing private ablutions, often captured in candid, almost momentary poses. Unlike the idealizations of classical art, the human figures depicted in the artist’s bath scenes are presented without artifice, emphasizing the unguarded, natural movement of the female form. The expansive scale of this print, compared to smaller versions of the subject, allowed Degas to experiment with broader, more dramatic strokes of the lithographic crayon, enhancing the play of light and shadow across the body and the surrounding drapery.

The subtle layering and tonal variations evident in this lithograph demonstrate Degas’s rigorous commitment to mastering the technical challenges of printmaking. He viewed the medium not merely as a means of reproduction but as an independent artistic process. As a definitive example of late 19th-century French prints, After the Bath (large version) offers deep insight into the artist’s focus on form and texture during his mature period. The significance of this graphic work ensures that high-quality documentation is often made accessible through public domain collections for scholarly review.