The Morning Bath

The Morning Bath is a powerful drawing created by Edgar Degas French, 1834-1917, between 1887 and 1890. This work exemplifies the artist's late career fascination with the use of pastel, a medium he expertly manipulated to achieve the rich texture and luminous effects typically associated with oil painting. Executed on off-white laid paper mounted on board, this piece showcases Degas’s innovative layering and blending techniques, maximizing the velvety density of the pigment.

The subject belongs to the artist's extended series of intimate depictions of women engaged in private domestic activities, such as bathing, drying, and dressing. Unlike many Impressionists who favored landscapes or public leisure scenes, Degas focused instead on the unposed, candid posture of the female figure, often viewing them through a sharply angled perspective that suggests the spontaneity of a fleeting glance. This approach was highly characteristic of French art during the late 19th century, exploring new ways of representing reality. Degas rarely allowed the sitter to be aware of the viewer’s presence, lending these depictions a raw sense of naturalism and psychological distance.

Though often exhibiting the scale and finished quality of a painting, the official classification of this work remains a Drawing, underscoring the importance of line and immediacy in Degas’s process. This pastel is a key example of the master’s output in France, capturing a moment of profound privacy and technical brilliance. The work is housed in the distinguished permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, and reproductions, including high-quality prints, are widely available through public domain initiatives.