Bather Stepping into a Tub

The influential French artist, Edgar Degas, created Bather Stepping into a Tub between 1885 and 1895, during a period when he focused intently on private, unguarded moments of everyday life. This striking drawing is executed in pastel and charcoal on blue laid paper, a combination Degas frequently employed in his late career to achieve vibrant color and textured surfaces while maintaining the spontaneity of a sketch. The support is notably mounted at the perimeter on a backing board, suggesting careful preservation despite the rapid execution.

Degas systematically documented the theme of female nudes performing ablutions, moving away from idealized mythological scenes toward candid depictions of bathing and grooming. This piece, which captures the bather caught mid-action as she steps into the tub, exemplifies his commitment to the unposed posture. Degas uses the strong linear quality of charcoal combined with the soft diffusion of pastel to define the figure's volume and the intimate atmosphere. The composition utilizes a high, slightly angled perspective, often employed by Degas to distance the viewer and emphasize the natural, unselfconscious form of the subject.

Classified as a pivotal drawing, this work is recognized as a significant example of the master draftsman’s prolific late-period output focused on interior genre scenes. The drawing resides in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As many of the studies of this era have entered the public domain, high-quality prints and reproductions allow students and historians to closely examine Degas's technical genius in blending the delicate medium of pastel with the stark lines of charcoal.