The Bath
c. 1882
Medium
Monotype in black ink on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 31.4 × 27.8 cm (12 3/8 × 11 in.); Sheet: 51.4 × 35.2 cm (20 1/4 × 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
monotype
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
75049
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of Edgar Degas with *The Bath* (c. 1882), a masterful monotype captures a woman in a private moment of vulnerability and grace. Degas, a leading figure in the Impressionist movement—though he often rejected the label—pioneered depictions of modern life, particularly the everyday rituals of women, such as bathing. Created during the 1880s, when he obsessively explored these themes, this work reflects his fascination with the female form in unguarded states, blending realism with subtle psychological depth. The artwork's medium is a standout: monotype in black ink o...
About the Artist
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas · 1834–1917
Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, born on July 19, 1834, in Paris to a prosperous banking family, was the eldest of five children. His mother, Célestine Musson, a Creole from New Orleans whose father Germain Musson had roots in Haiti, died when Degas was thirteen, leaving his father Augustin and unmarried uncles to guide him. Educated at the elite Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he earned a baccalauréat in...