Woman Washing Her Left Leg
c. 1890s
Medium
pigmented beeswax, metal armature, on wooden base
Dimensions
overall without base: 14.7 x 11.4 x 13.5 cm (5 13/16 x 4 1/2 x 5 5/16 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon
Accession Number
1999.80.20
Art Historical Context
In the intimate glow of Edgar Degas' *Woman Washing Her Left Leg* (c. 1890s), we glimpse the artist's fascination with everyday femininity. Crafted from pigmented beeswax over a metal armature and mounted on a wooden base, petite sculpture—measuring just 14.7 x 11.4 x 13.5 cm—captures a woman in a private moment of self-care, her pose twisted in quiet concentration. Degas, a master of Impressionism known for his paintings of ballet dancers and urban life, turned to sculpture in his later years, creating over 150 such wax models in his Paris studio. These works, rarely exhibited during Degas' ...
About the Artist
Edgar Degas · 1834–1917
Edgar Degas (1834-1917) stands as one of the most innovative artists of the nineteenth century, whose distinctive vision transformed how modern life could be depicted on canvas. Born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas in Paris to a wealthy banking family—his father French, his mother a Louisiana Creole from New Orleans—Degas received a classical education before abandoning law studies in 1855 to pursue ...