The content of both works herein analyzed depicts nude female bathers. The first by Edgar Degas is entitled Woman Bathing In a Shallow Tub, and the second by Gustave Courbet is entitled The Young Bather. Woman by Degas is painted in what amounts to a cross between naturalism and impressionism, both styles apparent in many of Degas’ works. Young Bather by Courbet is painted in the full realist mode, realism being founded by artists like Courbet and Edouard Manet. Woman, painted in 1885, measures 32 x 22 1/8 inches and is charcoal and pastel on light green wove paper that has aged to a warm gray (Degas 1). Young Bather, painted in 1866, measures 51 ¼ x 38 ¼ inches and is oil on canvas (Courbet 1).
When Degas first showed his charcoals of nude bathers, critics attacked him for his “ungainly poses of bathers” (Courbet 1). However, his works, though depicting nude females are anything but ungainly. In this work, the observer sees a natural depiction of a seemingly quite young female bather. She is in a shallow tub. She is stooped over wetting her washcloth in the water at her feet. Degas uses charcoal and pastel to add a great degree of value contrast to the work which helps to define the slightly blurred, impressionist brushstroke used in a washed manner. The value contrasts are used to add texture to the white cloth hanging in the background, give definition to the image of the bather, give shape and depth to the wash tub, and to add color to the bather’s hair, washcloth and the two water pitcher containers sitting beside the tub. Under the bather’s feet Degas has used a value contrast shading to achieve a mirror effect so that the woman’s image is reflected in the water and tub giving great depth to the picture in a vertical axis.
Woman is done in a realist and impressionist style. It is representative of realism because it depicts a modern setting and modern life, wit
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