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Woman adjusting her hair

Maker

(Artists)
1834-1917

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1884

Medium

Charcoal, chalk and pastel on two sheets of buff-coloured laid paper

Dimensions

Height: 63 cm (paper)
Width: 59.9 cm (paper)

Accession Number

D.1948.SC.115

Mode of Acquisition

Samuel Courtauld, bequest, 1948

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Notes

Degas’s fascination with the movement of the human body extended to the rituals of the everyday, with some of his finest works focusing on the intimate and ordinary moments of women bathing, grooming and dressing. The spectacle of women trying on hats captured Degas’s imagination and he frequently returned to the theme. This elegant woman, seen from a high viewpoint, may be a customer in a milliner’s shop. She raises both arms, perhaps to adjust her hair, which fashion dictated should be pinned up, or, more likely, to place a toque (a type of small, brimless hat) upon her head. Bold charcoal lines and deep shading against luminous pastel render the sinuous curves of her gently twisting torso as she sits before the loosely described mirror. The drawing shows Degas rethinking his initial ideas, as various alterations are immediately visible: a second piece of paper was added to the top of the sheet to extend the figure; the position of her left elbow has been moved; and the curve of her back and right arm have been redrawn. Degas’s summary description of the mirror contrasts with his careful observation of the woman’s skirt, with its dramatically lit folds and precise hatching. Though this pastel may have begun as a preparatory study for Degas’s painting Woman Trying on a Hat, it was likely reworked into its present state either during or after the canvas was completed.

Provenance

Second Degas Sale, Paris, 11 December 1918 (lot 94); Nunès et Fiquet, Paris; Leicester Galleries, London by 1922; purchased by Samuel Courtauld, perhaps in 1923 (£231); Samuel Courtauld Bequest 1948.

Exhibition History

The Courtauld Collection. A Vision for Impressionism, Louis Vuitton Foundation, Paris, 20/02/2019-17/06/2019

Degas, Impressionism and the Paris Millinery Trade, Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, USA, 12/02/2017-07/05/2017

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013 ...More

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012

Into the 20th century - New Displays at the Courtauld, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 10/10/2002

The Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, 26/12/1997-12/05/1998

Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, 17/11/1962-22/12/1962

Drawings and Engravings from the Courtauld Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, December 1959-April 1960

Samuel Courtauld memorial exhibition, Tate Gallery, London, 1948 ...Less

Literature

Serres, Karen (ed.), The Courtauld Collection: A Vision for Impressionism, Paul Holberton Publishing 2019
no. 13, p. 108
illus. 109

Simon Key and Esther Bell, Degas, Impressionism, and the Paris Millinery Trade, Munich, London, New York/Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and Delmonico Books, Prestel 2017
cat.15, pp.128-130
illus. p. 128

Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
pp. 236-38 ...More

John House, Impressionism for England: Samuel Courtauld as Patron and Collector, Courtauld Institute Galleries 1994
no. 76
illus. p. 195

Farr, Dennis, 100 Masterpieces from the Courtauld Collections, London: Courtauld Institute Galleries, 1987
p. 204
illus. p. 205

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
cat. no. 105
illus. p. 108

Anthony Blunt and Philip Troutman, Master Drawings from the Witt and Courtauld Collections, 1962
cat. no. 58

Cooper, Douglas, The Courtauld Collection, London 1954
no. 115
illus. pl. 74 ...Less

Inscriptions

Inscription: mark : stamped : lower right & recto : mark of Degas' studio sale :

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