To achieve a dry, pastel look, some of the oil was leached out of the paint before it was applied. The pattern for the background wallpaper was made by first brushing on a faint wash of red paint for the background, and then applying spots of gray and orange paint with the fingers (some fingerprints are visible under magnification).
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Edgar_Degas" class="extiw" title="w:en:Edgar Degas"><span title="French Impressionist artist (1834–1917)">Edgar Degas</span></a>
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1890s <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1890-00-00T00:00:00Z/8</div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princeton_University_Art_Museum" class="extiw" title="w:Princeton University Art Museum">Princeton University Art Museum</a>