Head of a Young Woman 1867

Edgar Degas painted this oil on canvas, "Head of a Young Woman," in France, though the exact date remains unknown. The image is an intimate portrait of a woman, capturing her likeness as well as hinting at the social conventions that would have shaped her identity. Degas was working at a time when Parisian society was strictly hierarchical, and portraiture was bound up with the demonstration of social status. While the woman's clothing suggests she may have belonged to the middle classes, the informal style of the painting challenges the traditional role of portraiture, which was, at the time, to flatter and aggrandize the sitter. It is this move towards depicting the social world as it really was that is so associated with the Impressionists. Art historians rely on a variety of resources to understand the social significance of art. Primary sources, such as letters and diaries, can shed light on the artist's intentions and the cultural context in which they were working. Ultimately, art's meaning is shaped by the social and institutional forces that govern its production and reception.