… impressionism, by Edgar Degas

I love the feeling that Degas captured in this painting. The expression on the woman’s face is a mixture of serious decision making and delight, and the hats bloom across the canvas like flowers in the summer sun. Degas was known to paint only indoors, and he scoffed at his contemporaries who painted outdoors. Degas is best known for his paintings of dancers, and his ability to translate movement is evident in the active posture of the woman who seems to be rotating the hat to see it from different angles.

The Millenary Shop, 1855, Edgar Degas. Image from Wikiart.