Edgar Degas

Sale: Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 4ème Vente Atelier Edgar Degas,  July 2-4, 1919, lot 194
Sale: Sothebys, London, March 30, 1966, lot 29
Acquired at the above sale 

Sue Walsh Reed and Barbara Shapiro, Edgar Degas, The Painter as Printmaker, Boston, 1984, pl. xvi, illustrated fig. 43

The work is in good condition. The drawing is a charcoal on tissue paper which is mounted to a secondary acidic pulpboard support. There is some bubbling where the tissue paper is separating from the board. There is evidence of a prior tear to the original support at the upper left and some creases in the original paper prior to mounting. The paper has yellowed over time from light exposure and the aforementioned mounting.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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La Toilette après le bain is a beautifully spontaneous example of Degas' drawings depicting one of the central subjects of his œuvre, that of a female nude washing or drying herself after a bath. As in his portrayals of ballet dancers, Degas preferred to capture his models in a private moment, when they appear fully absorbed in their activity, completely unaware of being observed. The sense of privacy is amplified by the artist's preferred viewpoint, depicting his subject from the back, without revealing her identity. In the present composition, the woman is depicted standing beside the bathtub, her upper body twisted in the process of drying her body. Only a restricted profile of the bather's face is visible as she bends to the side, her attention absorbed entirely by the towel in her right hand.

Discussing Degas' late depictions of bathers, Richard Kendall writes: "The exceptional range, both pictorial and psychological, of Degas's depictions of women seems essential to their collective and individual meaning [...] Wilfully revisiting certain gestures, such as the crooked elbow in After the bath, woman drying herself and Woman seen from behind, drying her hair, Degas seemed determined to exhaust the language of the human body and the nuances of its representation" (R. Kendall, Degas: Beyond Impressionism (exhibition catalogue), National Gallery, London, 1996, p. 231).

Never tiring of returning to a subject, the artist explored the female body in a variety of poses and angles, exploring the nuances of movement and form. Degas often used his own photographs of women at their toilette, as well as his bronze sculptures of the same subject, from which he would sketch in charcoal or pastel. The curve of the bath's rim subtly mirrors that of the bather's waist and bottom, the rhythm broken only by the sharp angle of her right elbow. The passion Degas derived from capturing this spontaneous and intimate act is evident in the generous and fluid draughtsmanship and the fullness of composition.

Fig. 1 Edgar Degas, After the Bath.  Twenty-two drawings of various dimensions in a variety of media.