The National Gallery’s recent presentation, guided by the sharp, analytical gaze of art and colour historian Alexandra Loske, invites us to reconsider a masterpiece that has long challenged the sensibilities of the traditional viewer. Edgar Degas’s Combing the Hair, a work often affectionately, if alarmingly, dubbed "the big red monster," stands as a testament to the visceral power of pigment when wielded by a master of modern life. To encounter this canvas is to be submerged in a deluge of saturated, pulsating hue—a sea of dense, warm reds that ripple from the deep, melancholic undertows of crimson to the aggressive, high-frequency spikes of scarlet, orange, and dusty pink. It is a painting that does not merely sit upon a wall; it vibrates, demanding an emotional response that is as immediate as it is unsettling.
The brilliance of Loske’s curation lies in her ability to demystify the "monstrous" reputation of the piece, reframing it as a deliberate, calculated intervention in the history of colour theory. During the late 19th century, the advent of new synthetic pigments provided artists with a toolkit previously unimagined, and Degas, ever the rigorous experimenter, utilized these chemicals to push the boundaries of representational art. By eschewing the sprawling, light-filled vistas favored by many of his Impressionist peers, Degas chose to burrow into the contained, complex interiors of modern existence. He was not interested in the romanticized outdoors; he was obsessed with the psychological friction of the domestic sphere. The result is a monochromatic intensity that feels less like a painting and more like an immersive, claustrophobic environment.
Despite the raw, immediate impact of the colour palette, the work is a triumph of intellectual discipline. Loske emphasizes that what appears to the casual eye as a spontaneous, almost fleeting glimpse of a private moment was, in reality, the product of meticulous planning. Degas, trained in the academic rigor of the Old Masters, approached his work with a structural precision that belies the apparent abandon of his brushstrokes. Beneath the layers of red lies a scaffold of bold, geometric lines. Diagonals cut across the canvas with surgical accuracy, while strong verticals serve to anchor the composition, creating a sense of restless movement that simultaneously feels frozen in time. This is not a scene of serenity; it is a composition of tension, where the very structure of the image seems to press inward upon the subjects.
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The mood of the painting is defined by a profound, pervasive ambiguity. The woman whose hair is being brushed is contorted into a pose that suggests both intimacy and a strange, lingering discomfort. Her physical form is locked in a state of tension that makes the viewer feel like an unintended trespasser, a voyeur granted access to a moment that was never meant to be witnessed. By stripping away a defined background, Degas removes the safety of context, leaving only the woman, the brusher, and the suffocating wall of red. This lack of environment is strategic—it isolates the figures, forcing the viewer to confront the raw materiality of the act. We are not watching a mundane task; we are witnessing a struggle of nerves, a quiet, private drama played out in a space that feels increasingly airless.
The historical significance of this work extends to Degas’s unique positioning within the pantheon of art history. He was a bridge between eras, a man who possessed the profound respect for the structural integrity of the Dutch and Italian masters while simultaneously harboring a radical, modern desire to subvert their conventions. He took the intellectual gravity of the academy and fused it with an experimental, almost scientific approach to the psychology of colour. As Loske illuminates, this was the mark of a "painter of modern life"—someone who understood that the true challenge of the artist was not to replicate the world, but to find the colour of its hidden anxieties.
To stand before Combing the Hair today is to engage with a work that remains remarkably contemporary. It challenges our desire for clear, comfortable art, instead opting for a visual experience that is demanding, visceral, and intentionally provocative. By bringing the vibrant, synthetic reality of the 19th century into sharp focus, Degas created something that transcends its own time. He captured a moment of private unease and elevated it through a mastery of technique and colour that few have since replicated. It is, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece of the uncomfortable—a reminder that when an artist has the courage to embrace the "monstrous" potential of their materials, they do not just create a painting; they create an emotional landscape that continues to resonate, challenge, and haunt long after the viewer has turned away.
