Degas’s ‘big red monster’ of a painting

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas’s ‘Combing the Hair ('La Coiffure')’ is a fiery painting.

A maid combs her mistress’s hair, while the mistress holds her head. Is the woman in pain or is she just steadying herself? And what is their relationship, really?

The painting doesn't answer these questions, but it does evoke sensations. It is drenched in bright reds and oranges with bold brushstrokes and sweeping lines. Painted later in Degas’s life, some details feel unfinished. To art and colour historian Alexandra Loske, it is a red-hot painting that is carefully constructed and showcases Degas’s mastery of colour.

In this 10-minute film, Alexandra looks closely at the pigments, technique, and tensions in Degas’s ‘Combing the Hair’.