Woman in an olive-green dress holding up an orange hat, beside colorful hats on tall stands

The Millinery Shop

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What you see

On the right, a woman in an olive-green dress sits at a table, holding an orange hat in both hands and studying it with half-closed eyes. On the left, several hats rest on tall stands: a pinkish-white one with a yellow bow, a red one, a brown one and a straw one trimmed with flowers. Another, blue, sits on the table.

The orange table and the hats spread a fan of color in front of the woman, who is dressed in muted tones. The paint is loose, and in the hats you can almost follow the brush moving. Notice the green ribbon hanging from the straw hat, and the milliner’s red lips standing out in her profile.

About Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas is famous for his ballet dancers, whom he painted in classes, rehearsals and backstage more than a thousand times. He liked to capture movements of a single instant, as if they were photographs. Besides oil paint, he often used pastels, sticks of colour that give a soft, velvety look.

All 11 works by Edgar Degas