Musée d’Orsay · 1886
The Tub
Edgar Degas
Degas paints a woman bathing herself in a shallow tub, seen from an unusually high, tilted angle that flattens the whole scene almost like a diagram — part of a series of bather pastels that pushed his lifelong interest in capturing unposed, private movement to its furthest point.
Why it matters
Degas paints a woman bathing herself in a shallow tub, seen from an unusually high, tilted angle that flattens the whole scene almost like a diagram — part of a series of bather pastels that pushed his lifelong interest in capturing unposed, private movement to its furthest point.
Look closer
Notice the strange, almost bird's-eye perspective looking down into the tub — Degas borrows this flattened viewpoint from Japanese prints, giving an intimate scene an unexpectedly modern, abstract structure.
Degas made around 200 pastels on the theme of women bathing over his career; this one, shown at the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886, is considered one of the most technically daring of the entire series.
Value context
ELYIO places this work in an indicative editorial context of €15–28 million.
The museum work is not for sale. This is ELYIO indicative context—not an appraisal, insurance value or offer.