Woman Seated in Armchair Wiping Her Left Armpit 1890 - 1920

Degas sculpted this bronze figure of a woman seated in an armchair, wiping her left armpit sometime around the late 19th century. The surface of the bronze is rough, marked by the artist's hand. The gestures feel fast, like the image was grabbed out of the air. The light catches on the ridges and valleys of the surface, giving it a life of its own. Look at the way the bronze clumps around the base and in the folds of the armchair. Degas captures a mundane, private moment, elevating it through the physicality of the medium. This piece reminds me of some of Rodin's more intimate sculptures, both artists sharing an interest in capturing the human form in motion. Just like any good work of art, this sculpture invites us to see the world in a new, slightly off-kilter way.