Artwork Page for Leaving the Bath

Details / Information for Leaving the Bath

Leaving the Bath

1879–80

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
Culture
France
Medium
drypoint, aquatint
Measurements
Image and Plate: 12.7 x 12.7 cm (5 x 5 in.); Sheet: 21.5 x 29.5 cm (8 7/16 x 11 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Alma Kroeger Fund 2025.198
Catalogue raisonné
Delteil 39; Adhemar & Cachin 49; Reed and Shapiro 42
State
III/XXII
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Edgar Degas created this print by drawing on a copper plate, not with a traditional etching needle, but with a copper rod—a component of early electric lamps. This nontraditional tool produced an effect that Degas appreciated, and he experimented further after bringing the plate home by working on it with materials ranging from an emery pencil to a stone.

Description

In Leaving the Bath, a woman is seen from behind as she awkwardly grips a tub while cautiously stepping out of it. Nearby, a maid is mostly obscured by a cloth meant to dry and warm her. Their sketchlike surroundings communicate intimacy and privacy and, in what would become a characteristic aspect of his bather imagery, Edgar Degas places the viewer in a voyeuristic perspective, with the two women unaware of our presence. The artist began to explore etching in the 1850s, registering in the print department of Paris’s Bibliothèque Nationale so that he could closely study the works of past masters such as Rembrandt van Rijn. Degas saw prints as having an important part to play in the Impressionists’ group exhibitions and displayed them alongside paintings there.
A grainy, square-oriented drypoint and aquatint print depicts a nude figure with a light skin tone standing center, back to us and leaning forward. To our right, another figure holds up a large, light-colored sheet, partially obscuring their body. Heavy diagonal hatching fills the background walls and textured floor. A rounded, patterned object sits in the lower right. The overall composition is defined by fine, sketchy lines and deep tones.

Leaving the Bath

1879–80

Edgar Degas

(French, 1834–1917)
France

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