| The Bath | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | Alfred Stevens |
| Year | ca. 1873 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 73.5 cm× 92.8 cm(28.9 in× 36.5 in) |
| Location | Musée d'Orsay, Paris |
The Bath is an oil on canvas painting by Belgian painter Alfred Stevens.
Apparently, two version of the paintings existed, one of which was reportedly destroyed in one of Vienna's fires. The painting was executed around 1873-74.
Stevens was trained as a painter in Brussels. He finished his studies in Paris and thereupon established himself there. During the Second Empire he pioneered and perfected the domestic interior scene, which the Impressionists later adopted. He was inspired by Pieter de Hooch and Vermeer, and painted both on wood panel and, as in the case of Le bain, on canvas.
Stevens made his name in Paris as a painter of beautifully dressed ladies. [1] Unlike Franz Xaver Winterhalter, the official portraitist of the French imperial family, Stevens chose his models among the wealthy upper class ladies.
These demi-mondaines were maintained by their wealthy lovers, and passed their time reading books, making themselves up or at salons and exhibitions while waiting for their lovers to return. [2] The model depicted in Le bain can also be seen in Stevens' Souvenirs and Regrets.
The painting depicts an apathetic Parisian demi mondaine having a bath. Above the tub there are, fixed to the wall, a swan-shaped tap and a white fixture in the shape of a shell. Instead of holding a bath brush, the model holds two white roses in her right hand, which crosses her body and leans against the tub's side.
The rose may be viewed as a symbol of love and beauty, whereas the tap in the shape of a swan neck might refer to the classical myth of Leda and the swan, adding an erotic subtext to the painting. [3]
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Marthe de Florian was a French demi-mondaine and socialite during the Belle Époque. She was known for having famous lovers including Georges Clemenceau, Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau, Paul Deschanel, Gaston Doumergue, Robert de Montesquiou, and Giovanni Boldini. Initially forgotten from history, her story resurfaced in 2010 after her belongings were discovered in her Parisian apartment, located at 2 square La Bruyère in the 9th arrondissement, untouched for decades. The discovery of her apartment was the inspiration behind Michelle Gable's novel A Paris Apartment.
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Lise with a Parasol is an oil on canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, created in 1867 during his early Salon period. The full-length painting depicts model Lise Tréhot posing in a forest. She wears a white muslin dress and holds a black lace parasol to shade her from the sunlight, which filters down through the leaves, contrasting her face in the shadow and her body in the light, highlighting her dress rather than her face. After having several paintings rejected by the Salon, Renoir's Lise with a Parasol was finally accepted and exhibited in May 1868.
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The Psyché is an oil on panel painting by the Belgian artist Alfred Stevens. Painted in circa 1871, the painting once belonged to Robert de Montesquiou, and is currently housed at the Princeton University Art Museum located in Princeton, New Jersey.
Mary Magdalene is an oil on canvas painting by Belgian painter Alfred Stevens. It is Stevens' revision of the Biblical figure of Mary Magdalene. The work has been in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent since 2001.
La parisienne japonaise is an oil on canvas painting by Belgian painter Alfred Stevens. It depicts a young woman in a blue kimono standing in front of a mirror. The painting testifies to Stevens' involvement with Japonisme. Stevens was one of the earliest collectors of Japanese art in Paris.
What is Called Vagrancy is an early oil on canvas painting by Belgian painter Alfred Stevens. This painting is representative of the early part of Stevens' career, when he was keen on representing the squalor of the time through realist painting.
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