Seated Bather

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Seated Bather: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Pierre-Auguste Renoir Oil Painting - Seated Bather

Keywords: Seated, Bather

Work Overview: Seated Bather
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Original Language Title: Baigneuse Assise
c. 1883-1884
Collection of Maurice Wertheim
Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 119.7 x 93 cm (47 1/8 x 36 5/8 in.)

Following a trip to Italy in 1881–82 to study the masterpieces of ancient Roman and Renaissance painting, Renoir embarked on one of his most innovative periods. As he later recalled, “Around 1883 there occurred what seemed to be a break in my work. I had wrung impressionism dry.” Exploring the canonical theme of female nude bathers, Renoir titled a work similar to this one Naiad, or water nymph, highlighting the figure’s classical inspiration. Her pose recalls a well-known Roman sculpture of a bathing nymph; it also evokes a long tradition in painting of depicting nude figures in a landscape. While this work responds to these precedents, it also breaks with them. Renoir painted the figure and her drapery differently from the landscape, so that she appears to float in the setting. He also left her right foot unresolved where it meets the fabric, signaling that his pictorial approach was no longer a purely naturalistic enterprise.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1884-1886,sold; [to Durand-Ruel, Paris] (deposited 1886, sold to Durand-Ruel in 1886) sold; to Mrs. Berthe Honore Potter Palmer, (1892-1894) sold; [to Durand-Ruel, New York] (1894-1930) sold; to Mrs. Jacques (Consuelo Vanderbilt) Balsan (1930-1946) sold; [through Durand-Ruel, New York]; to Maurice Wertheim (1946-1951) bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1951.
Notes:
Wertheim paid $125,000--see O'Brian text regarding sale.

Publication History
Impressionist Paintings, exh. cat., St. Botolph Club (Boston, MA, 1913), no. 252

Gustave Geffroy, "Renoir, Peintre de la Femme", L'Art et les Artistes (April 1920), repr., p. 157

Georges Riviere, Renoir et ses Amis, Henri Floury (Paris, France, 1921), repr. opposite p. 40

Henri de Regnier, Renoir, peintre du nu, Galerie Bernheim Jeune (Paris, France, 1923), repr., pl. 17

Gustave Coquiot, Renoir, avec 32 reproductions, A. Michel (Paris, France, 1925), repr. opposite p. 40

Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters, exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, MI, 1927), no. 91

Albert Andre, Renoir, G. Crès et Cie (Paris, France, 1928), repr. as pl. 30

Georges Besson, Auguste Renoir, G. Crès et Cie (Paris, France, 1929), pl. 16

Julius Meier-Graefe, Renoir, Klinkhardt & Biermann (Leipzig, Germany, 1929), no. 179

Exhibition of French Art, 1200-1900, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts (London, England, 1932), no. 544

Illustrated Souvenir of the Exhibition of French Art, exh. cat., Burlington House (London, England, 1932), repr. p. 68

Claire Batigne, The London Exhibition of French Art, 1200-1900, exh. cat., Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. (New York, NY, 1932), repr.

Renoir, 1841-1919, exh. cat., Musée de l'Orangerie (Paris, France, 1933), no. 78, plate XLIV

L'Impressionisme, exh. cat., Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (Brussels, Belgium, 1935), no. 64

A. C. Barnes and Violette de Mazia, The Art of Renoir (New York, NY, 1935), pp. 408-409, no. 142

Claude Roger-Marx, Renoir, Henri Floury (Paris, France, 1937), repr. p. 105

"Renoir Painting Sold, Proceeds to Aid France", New York Herald Tribune (Nov 21 1946), p. 48

Durand-Ruel Gallery, Nine Selected Paintings by Renoir, exh. cat., Durand-Ruel Gallery (New York, NY, 1946), repr. no. 1

La Peinture Française Depuis 1870: Collection Maurice Wertheim, exh. cat., Tom Taylor (Québec, Canada, 1949), no. 10, pp. 27-29

Howard Devree, "By French Masters: The Metropolitan Shows Wertheim Collection", The New York Times (New York, NY, July 6 1952), p. 6, p. 6

"Youths Caught Stealing Famous Paintings in Paris", The New York Times (New York, NY, June 28, 1952), repr.

Figure Paintings by Renoir, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY, 1952), repr.

The Maurice Wertheim Catalogue: Modern French Art-- Monet to Picasso, exh. cat., North Carolina Museum of Art (Raleigh, NC, 1960), p. 42, repr. p. 43

Masterpieces: loan exhibition of paintings and drawings. A memorial exhibition for Adele R. Levy; benefit of the Citizens' Committee for Children of New York, Inc., exh. cat., Wildenstein Gallery, New York (New York, NY, 1961), repr. no. 41

The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Modern French Art-- Manet to Picasso, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Houston, TX, 1962), pl. 17, pp. 44-45

Margarethe B. J. Brown, "Modern Woman--In Whose Image?", Crossroads (July 1965 - Sept 1965), vol. XV, no. 4, ill. p. 89

Renoir, University of Wisconsin Press (Tokyo, Japan, 1969), repr. in color p. 35

James Nelson, "Impressionism Ridiculed by 19th Century Critics", The Montgomery Advertiser Journal (Montgomery, AL, June 6, 1971)

François Daulte, Auguste Renoir: catalogue raisonné de l'oeuvre peint, Editions Durand-Ruel (Lausanne, Switzerland, 1971), vol. 1, no. 490, repr.

Elda Fezzi, L'Opera Completa di Renoir nel periodo impressionista, 1869-1883, Rizzoli Editore (Milan, Italy, 1972), no. 620

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, exh. cat., Maine State Museum (Augusta, ME, 1972), no. 30

Jean Sutherland Boggs, "Variations on the Nude", Apollo (June 1978), vol. CVII, no. 196, pp. 487-489, p. 489, repr. as color pl. XIX

Vivien Raynor, "Art: Impressionist Show at the I.B.M. Gallery" [review], The New York Times (New York, NY, April 26, 1985), p. C24

G. Freisinger, "Second Impressions", Harvard Magazine (Cambridge, MA, May 1985 - June 1985), p. 40, ill. p. 43

Kristin A. Mortimer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums/Abbeville Press (Cambridge, MA; New York, NY, 1985), no. 215, p. 189, repr. in b/w

Renoir, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, London (London, England, 1985), pp. 110-111, repr., 221, 239-240

Bruce Bernard, ed., The Impressionist Revolution, Orbis Publishing Ltd. (London, England, 1986), repr. in coor, p. 185

Horst Keller, Auguste Renoir, Bruckmann Verlag (Munich, Germany, 1987), repr. in color pl. 100, p. 125

Nicholas Wadley, ed., Renoir: A Retrospective, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc. (New York, NY, 1987), repr. in color pl 89, p. 269

John O'Brian, Degas to Matisse: the Maurice Wertheim Collection, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc./Fogg Art Museum (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, 1988), no. 8, pp. 57-60, repr. in color p. 58

John House, Renoir, exh. cat., Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery (Guernsey, 1988), repr. in b/w p. 34

Raffaele de Grada, Renoir, Arch Cape Press (New York, NY, 1989), repr. in color no. 56, p. 79

Christopher Riopelle, "Renoir: the Great Bathers", exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, PA, Fall 1990), repr. in color fig. 5, p. 13; text p. 12

Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 87, color plate; pp. 127, 254, repr. b/w cat. no. 382

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Renoir by Renoir, ed. Rachel Barnes, Webb and Bower (Exeter, England, 1990), repr. in color p. 57

The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1990), repr. in color, no. 17, p. 65

Bernard Denvir, Impressionism, the Painters and the Paintings, Studio Editions (London, England, 1991), repr. in color pl. 197

Anne Higonnet, Berthe Morisot's Images of Women, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 1992.), repr. in b/w, fig. 67, p. 171

Rosamond Lehmann, A Sea-Grape Tree (London, England, 1993), detail repr. in color on cover

Vivien Perutz, Edouard Manet, Bucknell University Press /Associated University Presses (Lewiston, PA and London, England, 1993), repr. in b/w fig. 4, p. 63; text p. 63

Anne Distel, Renoir il faut embellir, Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Editions Gallimard (Paris, France, 1993), repr. in color p. 83

John House, Renoir: Master Impressionist, exh. cat., Art Exhibitions Australia Limited (Sydney, Australia, 1994), fig. 22, pp. 48-49

Impressionist and Modern Art, Part I, auct. cat., Sotheby's (New York, NY, November 13, 1997), p. 70

Impressionist and Modern Art, Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg (New York, NY, May 7 2001), p. 66, under lot no. 16, repr. in b/w as fig. 3, p. 67

Gilles Néret, Renoir: Painter of Happiness, Taschen (Köln, Germany, 2001), repr. in color, p. 298

John House, Impressionism: Paint and Politics, Yale University Press (U.S.) (New Haven, CT, and London, 2004), p. 203, repr. as pl. 176

John House, "Women Out of Doors", exh. cat., ed. Sidsel Maria Søndergaard, Skira Editore S.p.A. (Milan, Italy, 2006), p. 184, repr. in color as fig. 154

Elizabeth M. Rudy, "Researching the Wertheim Collection at the Harvard Art Museums", Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals (Summer 2014), Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 301-6

Exhibition History
Exhibition of French Art, 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 01/01/1932 - 03/05/1932

Renoir, Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, 01/01/1933 - 12/31/1933

Nine Selected Paintings by Renoir, Durand-Ruel [New York], New York, 12/01/1946 - 01/31/1947

La Peinture Française depuis 1870, Musée de la Province de Quebec, 07/12/1949 - 08/07/1949

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 07/01/1952 - 09/14/1952

French Paintings Since 1870 from the Maurice Wertheim Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 06/01/1953 - 09/30/1953

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 06/15/1957 - 09/15/1957

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 06/10/1958 - 08/31/1958

The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Modern French Art--Monet to Picasso, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, 06/17/1960 - 09/04/1960

Masterpieces: A Memorial Exhibition for Adele R. Levy, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 04/06/1961 - 05/07/1961

The Maurice Wertheim Collection: Manet to Picasso, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, 06/13/1962 - 09/02/1962

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, 06/20/1963 - 09/01/1963

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, 06/24/1965 - 09/07/1965

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, 09/03/1968 - 09/22/1968

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Montgomery Museum of Art, Montgomery, 06/01/1971 - 09/30/1971

The Maurice Wertheim Collection, Maine State Museum, Augusta, 06/01/1972 - 09/01/1972

Renoir, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 10/09/1985 - 01/05/1986

Manet to Matisse: The Maurice Wertheim Collection, IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York, 04/09/1985 - 05/25/1985

The Maurice Wertheim Collection and Selected Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings and Drawings in the Fogg Art Museum, Isetan Department Store, Tokyo, 03/01/1990 - 04/10/1990; Yamaguchi Prefectural Museum of Art, 04/14/1990 - 05/13/1990

Renoir: the Great Bathers, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 09/09/1990 - 11/25/1990

Re-View: S427 Impressionist & Postimpressionist Art, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/02/2008 - 06/18/2011

32Q: 1220 Wertheim, Harvard Art Museums, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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