Some of Edgar Degas's pastels of feminine…

Some of Edgar Degas's pastels of feminine nudes, ironers, and milliners now reach an astonishing compromise between plasticity and surface pattern, as in his Ironers (1886, Musée d'Orsay, Paris).

The strips of pure color that he uses to build up the flesh colors of his women at their baths—e.g., The Tub (1886, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), The Tub (1886, Jeu de Paume Museum, Paris) or The Tub (1885-6; Hill-Stead Museum, Connecticut) are more closely knit than the taches of the Impressionists but like them merge at a certain distance to give the illusion of solid modeling.