Beach at Low Tide (Mouth of the River)

Edgar Degas made this beach scene in 1869, and it looks nothing like the racehorses and ballet dancers he is best known for. Working in pastel, he stretched out a wide expanse of sand at low tide, with a shallow pool of water reflecting the pale sky and a small sailing boat pulled up near the shore. A few tiny figures dot the beach, so small you might miss them at first, which gives you a real sense of just how vast and empty this stretch of coast feels.

The soft blues and warm tans blend into one another with barely a hard edge in sight, and much of the sand is left almost bare, letting the color of the paper show through. Degas reportedly made a whole series of these beach studies not on location but back in his studio, sometimes laying a model down on the floor to pose. It is a reminder that even the most natural looking scenes were often carefully staged by the artist. The faint traces of lettering along the bottom edge hint at the paper's earlier life before Degas put it to use.