After the Bath
c. 1890-1893 (dated in error by another hand: 1885)
Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
On View

Of Degas’s various recurrent subjects, the one most magically suited to the pastel medium may have been the female nude. By the early 1890s, the artist had all but abandoned oil paints for his nudes, relying instead on powdery, luminous pastels to convey the texture of bare skin. In works like this one, the more persuasively the physical properties of the medium mimic those of the sensuous subject, the more aware we become of the medium itself. Extreme realism here converges with abstraction, a new emphasis on the process of picture-making in the glowing, touched-all-over surface. The signature at lower left is original, but the incorrect date (“85”) is a later addition.

Details

  • Artist Name: Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
  • Title: After the Bath
  • Date: c. 1890-1893 (dated in error by another hand: 1885)
  • Medium: Pastel on paper mounted on cardboard
  • Dimensions: 26 x 20-3/4 in. (66 x 52.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1975.02.P
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

The artist, sold 9 March 1902 for f. 6,000 to;
[Durand-Ruel, stock no. 6950, Paris, transferred 3 December 1912 to];
[Durand-Ruel, New York, stock no. 3585, sold 2 January 1913 for $9,000 to];
Miss Lillie P. Bliss, New York, bequeathed 1931 to;
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, sold May 1942 to;
Mrs. Charles Suydam Cutting, New York and New Jersey.
[Wildenstein & Co., New York].
Benjamin E. Bensinger, Chicago (sale, London, Christie's, 15 April 1975, lot 30, to);
[Somerville & Simpson, London, on behalf of];
The Norton Simon Foundation.

1913 Armory Show: 50th Anniversary Exhibition, 1963

  • Utica, New York, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, 1963-02-17 to 1963-03-31
  • New York, Armory of the 69th Regiment, 1963-04-06 to 1963-04-28
  • Rewald, John, Edgar Degas,no. 53
  • Lemoisne, Paul-André, Degas et son oeuvre,no. 815 pp. 464-465
  • Lipton, Eunice, Looking Into Degas: Uneasy Images of Women and Modern Life,no. 121 pp. 180-181
  • Campbell, Sara et al., Degas in the Norton Simon Museum,2009, Fig. 27 pp. 45, 200
  • The Studio, p. 322
  • Norman, Geraldine, Times,
  • Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum,1989, p. 151
  • Lassaigne, Jacques, Edgar Degas, p. 31
  • Thomson, Richard, Degas: The Nudes, p. 183, 184
  • Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art,no. 136 p. 35
  • Orcutt/Kushner, The Armory Show at 100: The New Art Spirit,2013,
  • Katzander, H., International Art Market, p. 146-147
  • Steadman, David W., The Connoisseur, p. 222
  • Rich, Daniel C., Edgar Degas, pp. 104, 105
  • Rouart, Denis, Degas: In Search of His Technique, p. 60
  • Rebatet, Marguerite, Degas,pl. 126
  • Carmen Fernández Jacob, La Patalogía Ocular en la Pintura a Través de la Clínica Oftalmológica,2017, Fig. 26, Fig. 28 pp. 116-117
  • Caradente, G., Degas,pl. LVI p. 15
  • Apollo,fig. 9 p. 10
  • Fosca, F., Degas, p. 86
  • Armstrong, Carol, Odd Man Out: Readings of the Work and Reputation of Edgar Degas,fig. 103 p. 197
  • Wilenski, R. H., Modern French Painters, p. 334
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 1131 p. 375
  • Lipton, Eunice, Arts Magazine,fig. 13 pp. 96-97
  • Westheimer, Dr. Ruth ; Charles Sullivan, The Lover's Companion, pp. 14, 15
  • Grappe, Georges, Edgar Degas, p. 52
  • La Farge, H. A., Art News, p. 66
  • Kendall, Richard, Degas: Beyond Impressionism,no. 48 pp. 156, 231, 233
  • Mauclair, Camille, Edgar Degas,
  • Brettel, Richard; and Suzanne McCullagh, Degas in the Art Institute of Chicago,fig. 89-1 p. 185
  • Hudson, Suzanne, and Nancy Noonan-Morrissey, How to Write About Art,fig. 6-2 p. 119
  • Morsell, M., Art News, pp. 4, 15
  • Bouret, J., Degas, p. 196
  • Schacherl, Lillian, Edgar Degas: Dancers and Nudes, pp. 107, 125
  • Dumont, Henri, Degas, p. 28
  • Boggs, Jean Sutherland, Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, p. 27
  • North American distribution, plus 10% international; English language; Initial print run on VHS and DVD to total 10,000 copies, Impressionism (college-level course on video tape, narrated by Richard Brettell),
  • Die Kunst für Alle, p. 382
  • Russoli, Franco; and Fiorella Minervino, L'opera completa di Degas,no. 912 p. 127
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Additional Artwork by Artist

Actress in Her Dressing Room Edgar Degas c. 1875-1880 and c. 1895-1905
Autograph Letter to Durand-Ruel Edgar Degas n.d.
Dancers in Pink Edgar Degas c. 1886

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