Misogynist or Lover of the Mundane?

J.K Huysmans was a well known art critic when Edgar Degas' now famous Bathers series was on display for the first time. In 1886 Degas' ten pastel drawings were seen at the Eighth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris. Upon seeing Degas' newest works “a series of nude women bathing, washing, drying themselves . . . combing their hair and having it combed” Huysmans wrote this reflection that would continue to color art critics and art historians view of Degas to this day:

“Degas brought to his study of nudes a careful cruelty, a patient hate.... He must have wished to take revenge, to hurl the most flagrant insult at his century by demolishing its most constantly enshrined idol, woman, whom he debases by showing her in the tub, in the humiliating positions of her intimate ablutions.... He gives her a special accent of scorn and hate. ” -J.K Huysmans 

The unquestionable reality of misogyny that Huysmans derives from Degas' Bathers series, though upheld in several views since his time, is problematic. Edgar Degas made himself student to the human form for over half a century, depicting the body through impressionistic paintings of dancers, monotypes of prostitutes in realism, and later pastel drawings of bathers. He became particularly fixated on the female body's soft yet muscular build. He was interested in the repetition of daily actions and the way he could capture those dynamic movements. Whether a dancer or a bather he wanted to convey the beauty he saw in the mundane aspects of life. As humans who have bodies, as men and women who know the rhythms of the daily living, can we allow ourselves to view Degas' forms anew?

Edgar Degas, Rehearsal on the Stage, ca. 1873

Oil paint, 53 x 61 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. The H.O. Havemeyer Collection. Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer. 29.160.26

During the nineteenth century in France women did not have the privileges that would later come about from modernity. At that time Degas' dancers were seen as the scum of the social scale, many were prostitutes on the side. After this piece was completed Degas submitted it to the Illustrated London News to which it was rejected. Degas remarked on this saying, “The editor refused it because ballet was not considered suitable subject matter for a prudish Victorian reading public.” His response sprang from the respect he had for the ballerina's due to their immense devotion to their craft—he saw their dignity and spoke out against those who didn't. 

Edgar Degas, Nude Woman Combing Her Hair, ca. 1879-83

Monotype in black ink on paper Paris, Musée d'Orsay, (conservé au département des Arts graphiques du Musée de Louvre) Photo Musée d'Orsay / rmn, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

As Degas spent countless hours with the ballerina's, bearing witness to their precise repetitions in the studio, it encouraged him in his own work. Like them he reworked his pieces again and again striving for excellence. He was a classically trained artist and as he studied the dancers he sought to learn more about their physical anatomy; with that came learning the other repetitions of their life. Degas created fifty charcoal sketches that he turned into monotype prints from time he spent entering into the brothels and bathhouses rendering the women as they bathed. He saw the reality of who the ballerina's were on stage and off stage.   

Edgar Degas, Woman Having Her Hair Combed, ca. 1886-88

Pastel, 74 x 60.6 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York. The H.O. Havemeyer Collection. Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer. 29.100.35

In nineteenth century France there were two extremes for women, either the life of prostitution underlying whatever lowly job one could manage (such as dancing), or the life of a middle to upperclass house-wife placed in a family of high society. The pastels drawings completed in Degas' Bathers series are products of staged scenes. This intentionality makes this series all the more interesting, as it means this is exactly where Degas desired to transition as he came from his time in the brothels. The differences in the way both women bathe is striking and unsettling for the time. Both hold the feeling of motion that Degas is interested in, but unlike the monograph seen earlier where the prostitute wrestles with the act of brushing her hair, this radiant mistress above has her maidservant smoothly combing through her locks with easy. Both women unwind their days with this monotonous task, but the two look very different. 

Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Bath, ca. 1880-85

 Oil on canvas, 29 x 23-1/2 in. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Mildred Anna Williams Collection.

The year before Degas began creating Woman Having Her Hair Combed, another french artist Jean-Léon Gérôme completed his piece dealing with a similar act of a maidservant washing her mistress. Gérôme deals with the female nude in many of his works, but does not fall under the same misogynist scrutiny that Degas does. Gérôme's piece does have a different context for the scene as a royal harem bathhouse, rather than an upperclass french bathroom, however that does not exclude it from the conversation. The dynamic way Gérôme's figures work together in The Bath is reminiscent not only of Degas' nudes, but also of his dancers. 

Edgar Degas, La Toilette, 1884-86

 Pastel over monotype laid down on board, Private Collection, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts.

Degas began La Toilette as a charcoal monotype, but end up adding pastel to the picture to articulate this moment in color. Degas captured a scene in this brothel that communicates what any woman of his time could have been feeling. Weariness, in moments of the day when the routine and repetitive nature of life is crushing. This prostitute appears to be remorseful, but also hopeless because she can't change this pattern. This is her moment to sigh and maybe cry and then think it's time to “work” again. Degas saw her, and believed she was worthy of color. 

Mary Cassatt, Woman Bathing, 1890–91

 Color print, 36.4 x 26.8 cm
(American, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1844–1926 Le Mesnil-Théribus, Oise) Metropolitan Museum of Art. 16.2.2

Mary Cassatt was a female artist, and a dear friend of Edgar Degas'. In her print Woman Bathing, she essentially recreated the composition found in Degas' La Toilette. The two works of art practically mirror one another, the only exception is her slight change in perspective and color pallet. Cassatt herself focused the majority of her career on portraying beauty amidst the monotony of life—including bathing, nursing and the repetitive practices that come with being a mother. This overlap is profound in dispelling the belief that Degas is a vindictive misogynist. The closeness of their relationship would have given Cassatt an excellent understanding on where Degas' perspective lied. It is highly unlikely that she would have alluded to his work so strongly in her own if she believed him to be a misogynist. 

Curated by Meg Earll