The Little Milliners

Edgar Degas painted these junior hat makers in 1882, showing two women absorbed in creating beautiful objects with artist-like craft. They put finishing touches on elegant chapeaus using coarse straw, velvet ribbons, and fluffy ostrich feathers. The title indicates they're assistants, beyond apprenticeship but not yet lead trimmers.

Degas created over 20 paintings, pastels, and drawings of millinery shops during three decades. No other modern painter depicted this subject with such frequency. Paris was the hat-making capital of the world, and Degas showed affinity for these craftswomen. Now at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City.