Painting Collection Edgar Degas Woman Brushing Her Hair (1834—1917) Edgar Degas painted Woman Brushing Her Hair around 1881, depicting a curvaceous nude figure in the midst of an intimate, everyday task. The French artist captured the woman sitting on an upholstered pillow with her back to the viewer, her legs stretched out and slightly bent, and her gaze beyond the picture plane. Degas paints the figure’s body with frenzied, sketch-like brushstrokes of fleshy colors mixed with greens and blues, as exaggerated tones of interior light. Degas often created such scenes of daily life, including many pictures of women bathing or brushing their hair, where the artist is represented as the voyeur. Though he was affiliated with the Impressionists, Degas considered himself a ‘realist’ artist for his interest in showing the modern life of 19th century Paris. He also found inspiration from his collection of Japanese ukiyo-e prints, which became a source for many artists after Japan reopened trade with the West in 1853. Degas incorporated the asymmetrical compositions and steep perspectives of ukiyo-e prints into his works, seen in Woman Brushing Her Hair. In the painting, the artist squeezes the figure into the top left corner, heightening the moment’s intimacy and placing equal value on the colorful textiles beneath the woman. |
  
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