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Your galleryThe Millinery Shop
Look first
- What catches your attention?
- Where does your eye go next?
- What would you ask about this work?
Show me
Find the green ribbon descending from the hat above the woman, then notice how the hat almost seems to rest on her head.
Degas developed this, his largest painting of a millinery shop, through many studies and changes. The woman could be a customer or a worker: her fine dress and long gloves do not settle the question. Displayed hats fill more of the picture than the figure, making merchandise an active part of the composition.
Oil on canvas · 100 × 110.7 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Impressionism
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Details and source
- Museum title
- The Millinery Shop
- Artist
- Edgar Degas
- Date
- 1879-86
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 100 × 110.7 cm (39 3/8 × 43 9/16 in.); Framed: 132.1 × 142.3 × 9.6 cm (52 × 56 × 3 3/4 in.)
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.







