Woman Having Her Hair Combed

Edgar Degas created Woman Having Her Hair Combed (ca. 1886–88) during a pivotal period in his career, when he devoted himself with singular intensity to the female nude in moments of unselfconscious private ritual. Part of a celebrated series exhibited at the final Impressionist group show of 1886, this pastel stands among his most intimate and formally daring works. Degas captured his subject from a close, elevated vantage point, dissolving conventional idealization in favor of raw, lived truth — a woman absorbed entirely in her own world, unaware of, or indifferent to, the observer's gaze.

Executed in pastel on wove paper, the work showcases Degas's virtuosic command of color and texture. His layered, hatched strokes animate the figure's luminous skin and the cascade of auburn hair, while the warm, neutral ground — originally light green, now mellowed to a soft gray — lends the composition a quiet, timeless atmosphere. The interplay of intimacy and formal rigor reflects his deep admiration for Ingres alongside a thoroughly modern sensibility.

This museum-quality stretched canvas reproduction is printed on premium matte canvas and hand-wrapped around a solid 0.75-inch wooden frame with a clean gallery wrap finish — ready to display and built to last. Bring a masterwork of Impressionism into your space.