The Millinery Shop

Degas painted The Millinery Shop between 1879 and 1886, during the years when he was most deeply engaged with the subject of modern Parisian life. He was in his mid-forties, established as one of the leading painters of the Impressionist group, and he was producing the work that would define his reputation: the ballet paintings, the racing scenes, the cafe interiors, and the millinery shop. The painting shows a woman in a hat shop, seen from above, bending over a table of hats. She is arranging or examining a hat, her body curved forward, her face hidden by the brim. The hats are arranged in rows on shelves behind her, painted in bright pinks, blues, and yellows. The woman wears a dark dress, which contrasts with the bright colors of the hats and the pale background. Degas was fascinated by the millinery shops of Paris, which were concentrated on the rue de la Paix and the boulevard des Capucines. He painted at least six canvases of the subject between 1879 and 1886, all showing women working in the shops, handling hats, or trying them on. The shops were modern spaces: brightly lit, filled with colorful merchandise, and staffed by young working women. Degas saw them as a subject that combined his interests in modern life, in women's work, and in the effects of artificial light on color. The painting was begun in 1879 and reworked over a period of seven years. Degas was a notorious reviser, and many of his paintings were returned to the studio multiple times before he considered them finished. The Millinery Shop is one of the most heavily reworked of his canvases, with layers of paint built up and scraped back, and with changes to the composition visible in the X-radiographs. The surface has a dense, worked quality that reflects the years of attention Degas gave it. Oil on canvas, 100 by 110 centimeters. Degas painted with short, overlapping strokes, building the hats in thick, opaque patches of color. The woman's dress is painted in dark, translucent layers of black and brown, with the form suggested by the direction of the brushwork rather than by modeling. The background is painted in thin, pale layers of cream and pink, with the shelves and hats described in quick, direct strokes. The composition is built from above, looking down into the shop, which gives the painting a detached, observational quality. The horizontal format and warm palette make this print work well in a living room, bedroom, or hallway. The pinks, blues, and warm earth tones pair with white walls, natural wood, and rooms with a feminine or domestic character. The 16x20 or 18x24 size gives the hats room to read. The painting has a quiet, intimate quality that suits rooms where people linger. The painting entered the Art Institute of Chicago's collection in 1933, as part of the Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection. This is a public domain artwork, scanned from the original at the Art Institute of Chicago. We print it on archival matte paper at sizes from 8x10 to 18x24 inches, framed or unframed. The image is printed at full resolution with no cropping.