Woman wiping her left foot

Woman Wiping her Left Foot, a pastel from 1886 now at the Musée d'Orsay, was among the ten bathing pastels Degas exhibited at the final eighth Impressionist exhibition in 1886. The series caused considerable critical debate: some viewers found the works brutally frank, even hostile toward their female subjects; others saw them as the pinnacle of honest observation. This pastel captures its subject in a pose of complete physical pragmatism — bent over to dry her foot, the body compressed into a compact curve. The pose has no counterpart in traditional art: it is purely modern, drawn from life without recourse to classical convention, and presented without apology or beautification.

The compact, curved pose is rendered through Degas's layered pastel technique, warm flesh tones built over cooler undertones that create a sense of physical mass and weight. The directional strokes follow the body's forms, defining the spine's curve and the tension in the bent leg. The bathing environment — floor tiles, towel, glimpsed tub — is handled loosely, maintaining focus on the figure. The palette is warm and intimate, the color of gaslit indoor spaces.