After the Bath (Large Version)
1892
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1892
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A woman bends forward, drying her neck while a maid holds a towel behind her. The room is dim, the figures close. Degas drew this scene many times, tracing it onto transfer paper to change the size and framing. The repeated copying left a soft, grainy texture—especially on the woman’s back—that makes the image feel almost like a photograph. He was testing how far he could push the printing process. Look up *impasto* to see how other artists built thick, textured paint.
