Edgar Degas
1871
Oil paint on paper, pasted on linen
81.2 x 61.3 cm
This scene of a woman profiled against a bright window seems serene. However, the English artist Walter Sickert, who knew Degas and owned this work, recounts it was painted during the siege of Paris by the Prussian army. The starving model was paid with a hunk of raw meat that Sickert claimed she immediately devoured.
Degas often experimented with technique. Here, he used paint drained of its oil for a matte effect. Although the painting appears unfinished, Degas considered it complete and signed it.