Young Woman with Her Hand over Her Mouth, ca. 1875. Edgar Degas. Oil colors freely mixed with turpentine on canvas. Gift of the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust, 2018.
This painting depicts a woman who appears to have been crying or is ill, in the sort of unguarded moment that Degas explored in his art throughout his career. Painted quickly and with great economy, its emphasis on capturing a transient emotional state marks it as a study rather than a formal portrait.