Blonde Bather

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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Work Overview

Blonde Bather
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Date: 1881
Style: Impressionism
Period: Rejection of Impressionism
Genre: nude painting (nu)
Media: oil, canvas
Dimensions: 81.8 x 65.7 cm
Location: Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, US


Renoir painted this work while traveling in Italy; the model is probably Aline Charigot, who later became his wife. The simplicity of the composition gives the nude a monumental presence that suggests a timeless image of womanhood. Renoir was inspired in this approach by the ancient Roman and Italian Renaissance art he saw on his trip, which he described as representing “eternal beauty.”


PROVENANCE
The artist, to Henri Vever, Paris (1882–1897, his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1–2 Feb. 1897, no. 96, sold to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, 1897–1926, sold to Clark, 2 July 1926, as Baigneuse]; Robert Sterling Clark (1926–55); Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, 1955.