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Overview
Born near Paris, Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) initially studied law, but by the late 1880s had given this up for painting. In 1887 he met the artists Edouard Vuillard, Maurice Denis and Paul Serusier. Taking their inspiration from Paul Gauguin, in 1888 they formed the Nabis group (the name derives from the Hebrew word for 'Prophets'). In 1912 Bonnard bought a house in Vernonnet, a village on the Seine, north west of Paris. He spent most of his time there until 1925, when he moved to the south of France, but still returned to Vernonnet frequently. Bonnard's paintings are characterised by a great richness of colour and sense of warmth. As well as landscapes and domestic, interior scenes, Bonnard frequently painted his wife, naked in her bath or bedroom. He also made prints, several of which are in Te Papa's collection.
Images of women washing themselves are ubiquitous in the history of Western art. The female nude in general has long been considered one of the most important subjects of artistic expression, most importantly in the form of history painting, traditionally represented in classical or biblical subjects. However, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,century progressive artists spurned traditional history painting in favor of contemporary subject matter, art of the moment that represented real life. They made the bathing woman look thoroughly modern.
During this period, public health officials encouraged regular bathing not only for cosmetic reasons, but also as a means to combat diseases such as cholera. As a result, more and more people washed indoors regularly. Artists used the subject of the bathing woman as an evocative means to an end,especially Bonnard's mentor, Edgar Degas, who returned to the theme of the bather literally hundreds of times between the late 1870s and his death in 1917. Degas utilised bathers to explore the possibilities of the human form, employing multiple angles and viewpoints, depicting its shape and various movements, and reflecting the many colours and textures of the environment. These prints and pastel drawings are deliberately devoid of narrative.
In this lithograph, Bonnard employs the high vantage point and a candid, unidealised approach to the female nude pioneered by Degas. Bonnard, however, presents his bather frontally, seated in a full-length bathtub, a luxury not found in many French homes during Degas's time. His model was his wife, Marthe, whose skin complaint required long soaks.
See: Art Institute of Chicago, http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/73386
Dr Mark Stocker Curator, Historical International Art August 2018