NARRATOR:
Considered one of Degas’ most original sculptures, The Tub was made around 1889, at the height of his career. Best viewed directly from above, it shows a young woman partially submerged in water, washing her foot with one hand and holding a small sponge in the other. Look carefully, and you’ll notice subtle differences in patina, or surface finish, on figure, tub and base: the woman is a warm, saturated brown, while the tub is a slightly lighter hue. The swirling cloth beneath has a greenish tint, indicating its different finish and texture.
Like all of Degas’ sculptures, this work was not cast in bronze until after the artist's death in 1917. He himself noted that he had executed the original model in wax and a variety of unorthodox materials:
DEGAS [ACTOR]:
"I have worked the little wax a great deal. I made a base for it with rags soaked in a more or less well-mixed plaster."
NARRATOR:
The shallow tub was fashioned from lead, surrounded by real cloth resting on a wooden base. The woman, modeled in dark red wax, lay in a sea of white plaster, holding an actual sponge. The idea of including materials foreign to sculpture was revolutionary.
Details
- Artist Name: Edgar Degas (French, 1834-1917)
- Title: The tub
- Date: Modeled c. 1889; cast 1919-21
- Medium: Copper alloy
- Dimensions: overall: 8-3/4 x 16-5/16 x 17 in. (22.2 x 41.4 x 43.2 cm); tub: 16-3/8 in. (41.6 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1977.02.53.S
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Adrien-Aurélien Hébrard, Paris, to his daughter;
Nelly Hébrard, Paris;
[Alex Reid & Lefevre, London, sold 17 January 1977 to];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
Nelly Hébrard, Paris;
[Alex Reid & Lefevre, London, sold 17 January 1977 to];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
- Sutton, Denys, Edgar Degas: Life and Work,no. 238 p. 246
- Campbell, Sara, Apollo,fig. 26 p. 23
- The Lefevre Gallery, The Complete Sculptures of Degas,no. 56 p. 73
- Campbell, Sara et al., Degas in the Norton Simon Museum,2009, Fig. 84 p. 423
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best,2010, cat. 1397 p. 402
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