Woman at Her Toilette 1892

Edgar Degas made this pastel drawing of a woman at her toilette sometime in the late 19th century. Pastels are interesting things. They're not quite drawing, not quite painting; a kind of hybrid medium. With them, Degas could build up layer upon layer of powdery pigment, creating a surface of intense, almost vibrating color. Look closely, and you can see the marks he made, hatching and cross-hatching to build up form and shadow. The intimacy of the scene—a woman absorbed in her ablutions—is matched by the intimacy of the medium. It's as though we're seeing a private moment, captured in a fleeting, almost ephemeral way. Yet, there's a tension here, too. The pastel medium, for all its delicacy, requires a certain amount of labor, a building up of layers. And the subject itself – the toilette – speaks to the social rituals and expectations surrounding women's bodies in 19th century France. The way Degas has made the picture is so tied to social context, and how we understand artistic skill.