The Bathers

1912

Roger de La Fresnaye

Associated Names
Roger de La Fresnaye

Painter, French, 1885 - 1925

This painting depicts a group of men and women created by a collection of angular, geometric shapes with flat planes and blocks of color. One person is standing, and they appear to be a bare-chested man with tan skin and short, dark hair, who is wearing red shorts. He has his hand on his hip and looks off to the right. At his feet appear to be several seated people, although they are only partially visible. Three women with pale skin seem to be facing away from us; we can see their legs, arms, and torsos, although these don't all fit together. The woman on the left has blonde hair, the woman on the right has brown hair, and the woman between them has short black hair. None of their faces are visible. In the middle of this group, at the center of the painting, we see the face and hand of another person who is looking to the left. This person has light brown skin, and we can't see the rest of their body. Surrounding elements include a blue sky with abstract cloud forms, an angular tree on the left, and patches of brown, white, and green on the ground, with one red flower. A tan rectangle under a red triangle on the right edge suggests a building.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Sara Lee Corporation

  • Dimensions

    overall: 162 x 130 cm (63 3/4 x 51 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2000.51.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Walther Halvorsen [1887-1972], Copenhagen. Richard Bergh, Stockholm. Mrs. Hallström, Stockholm, by 1950.[1] (Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm); sold 2 January 1958 to (Justin K. Thannhauser, New York).[2] Mr. and Mrs. Morton D. May [he: 1914-1983], St. Louis, by 1964.[3] Washington University and The St. Louis Symphony Society, St. Louis; (sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, 6 April 1967, no. 63); Nathan Cummings [d. 1985], Chicago; The Sara Lee Corporation, Chicago; gift 2000 (promised 1998) to NGA.
[1] She lent the painting to a 1950 exhibition in Stockholm.
[2] Records of the Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet, Getty Research Institute, Series IIA, Box 164, Register of Sales, October 1952-December 1959 (copies, NGA curatorial files)
[3] They lent the painting to an exhibition in San Francisco that opening in November 1964.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1912

  • Salon d'Automne, Paris, 1912, no. 613.

1914

  • Paintings, drawings, watercolours by Roger de La Fresnaye, Galerie Levesque, Paris, 1914, no. 30.

1931

  • Société Interscandinave d'Art Français, Stockholm; Göteborg; Copenhagen; Oslo, 1931.

1950

  • Roger de la Fresnaye, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 1950, no. 47, repro.

1954

  • Cézanne till Picasso: Fransk konst i svensk ägo, Liljevalchs Konstall, Stockholm, 1954, no. 129.

1961

  • A Galaxy of Treasures, St. Louis Art Museum, 1961.

1964

  • Man: Glory, Jest, and Riddle: A Survey of the Human Form through the Ages, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 1964-1965, no. 259, repro.

1965

  • The Heroic Years: Paris 1908-1914, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1965.

1969

  • Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, April 1969.

  • Palais Gailliéra, Paris, September 1969.

1970

  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1970-1971.

  • Selections from the Nathan Cummings Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1970, no. 22, repro.

1971

  • Selections from the Nathan Cummings Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1971, no. 22, repro.

1973

  • Major Works from the Collection of Nathan Cummings, Art Institute of Chicago, 1973, no. 51, repro.

1990

  • Modern Art: From the Museum's Collections, and Distinguished Loans [Celebrating the museum's 25th Anniversary and opening of the Nathan Cummings 20th-Century Art Building], Israel Museum, Jersalem, 1990, no catalogue.

1991

  • Multiple Perspectives: Cubism in Chicago Collections, The David and Alfred Smart Museum, The University of Chicago, 1991.

1999

  • Monet to Moore: The Millenium Gift of Sara Lee Corporation, Singapore Museum of Art; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Art Institute of Chicago, 1999-2000, no. 18, repro.

2005

  • Roger de La Fresnaye (1885-1925). Cubismo y tradición, Musée de Tessé, Le Mans; Museu Picasso, Barcelona, 2005-2006, no. 54, repro.

Bibliography

1912

  • Allard, Roger. R. de La Fresnay. Paris, 1912: 27, repro.

1969

  • Seligman, Garmain. Roger de La Fresnaye with a catalogue raisonné. London and New York, 1969: 45, 151, no. 121, repro.

1983

  • Consolidated Foods Corporation's Nathan Cummings Collection. Chicago, 1983: 16-17, fig. 11.

1997

  • Brettell, Richard R. An Impressionist Legacy: The Collection of Sara Lee Corporation. New York, 1997: 80, 150-151, repro. (earlier editions published 1986, 1987, 1990, 1993).

Inscriptions

lower right: R de La Fresnaye

Wikidata ID

Q20191624

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