A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers  1865

by Edgar Degas

The juxtaposition of the prominent bouquet and the off-center figure, gazing distractedly to the right, exemplifies Degas’s aim of capturing individuals in seemingly casual, slice-of-life views. The sitter is probably the wife of the artist’s schoolboy friend Paul Valpinçon; Degas immensely enjoyed outings to their country house, Ménil-Hubert, and the dahlias, asters, and ...
Size: 
29 x 36 1/2 in. (73.7 x 92.7 cm)
Medium: 
Oil on canvas
Credit: 
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art