Bather by the Water 1903

Edgar Degas made this pastel drawing called ‘Bather by the Water’, and it’s like a fleeting glimpse caught out the corner of your eye. The colours feel really soft and muted, like a hazy memory or a half-remembered dream, all ochre yellows and browns. I imagine Degas, moving with the flow of his material, smudging and blending those pastels into the paper. You can almost feel the grit and texture of the pigment. I bet he was thinking about light and movement and how to capture the essence of a moment. There's a real interest in the materiality of the surface here, the way the marks build up. It reminds me of the quiet intimacy of someone like Bonnard, the way he could make the everyday feel so monumental. Painting is always a conversation, a back-and-forth between artists across time, where we all riff off of each other's ideas. It’s so cool.