Degas painted several versions of a scene in which a woman has her hair combed by a maid, but this painting is special for its almost monochromatic outlook. The painting is a celebration of reds in many shades and intensities.

The wall behind the curtain and behind the woman’s dress (Nr 1) is painted in a mixture of red ochre and lead white.

The paint in the curtain (Nr 2) contains red ochre mixed with a little vermilion and red lead.

The dress (Nr 3) is painted in vermilion, containing small amounts of red lead and red ochre.

The orange wall behind the maid on the right side (Nr 4) is painted in red lead with a small addition of viridian

The yellow brush (Nr 5) is one of the contrasting elements in the sea of red paint. It is painted in yellow ochre.

The tablecloth (Nr 6), another accent, contains viridian.

References

(1) Bomford D, Herring S, Kirby J, Riopelle C, Roy A. Art in the Making: Degas. London: National Gallery Company, 2004, pp. 142-149.

(1) Bomford D, Herring S, Kirby J, Riopelle C, Roy A. Art in the Making: Degas. London: National Gallery Company, 2004, pp. 142-149.

(2) Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, Combing the Hair (‘La Coiffure’) about 1896, National Gallery London.

(3) Theodore Reff, The Technical Aspects of Degas’s Art, Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 4 (1971), pp. 141-166, DOI: 10.2307/1512619.