Lot 136
  • 136

Jean-Léon Gérôme French, 1824-1904

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Description

  • Jean-Léon Gérôme
  • Femmes au Bain
  • signed J.L. GEROME l.c.

  • oil on canvas

  • 74 by 94cm., 29 by 37in.

Provenance

Sale: American Art Association, New York, 28 March, 1935, lot 43

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1898

Literature

Le Figaro illustré, 1898, p. 7
Haller, Nos grands peintres, Paris, 1899, p. 156
Gerald M. Ackerman, Jean-Léon Gérôme. Monographie révisée. Catalogue raisonné mis à jour, Paris, 2000, p. 348, catalogued and illustrated, no. 449 (as lost)

Condition

Please refer to the department for a condition report on this lot.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Gérôme's splendid evocation of three women lounging around a round hot pool in a private bathhouse under the watchful eye of their attendant epitomises the bath scenes central to his work in the 1890s, and which built on the success of his most celebrated bath scene, La Grande piscine à Bursa shown to great acclaim at the Paris Salon of 1885.

Gérôme's inspiration for his bath scenes was almost certainly sparked by his 1879 visit to the Grand Baths at Bursa. It seems likely that Gérôme, working in the baths on Men's Day, observed the casual society of the male bathers around him in the warm, steamy space, their relaxed deportment giving him a clue as to the behaviours of the women on their day.

The subject of the Turkish bath was not uncommon in nineteenth-century painting. Delacroix, Ingres, and Chassériau had already received critical acclaim for their various nudes set in Turkish interiors. Ingres' famous rendition of this subject in 1862 is an exotic fantasy of voluptuous flesh and writhing bodies. In contrast with this, Femmes au bain seems devoid of lasciviousness or eroticism: the nudes are not shown as examples of primitive sensuality, writhing and posing in erotic deprivation or anticipation; they are simply engaged in the social activity of spending the afternoon at the bath.

Instead of portraying his models in erotic poses, Gérôme observes the movement of muscle and flesh as the body turns and flexes, and records the manner in which light falls on the skin. The structure of bones, the mechanism of the musculature, and the elasticity of the skin were wonders, beauties of nature to be observed, studied, and reported. Gérôme's skill in portraying the human body encouraged him (and his friend Degas) to sometimes place their models in awkward positions to reveal, in full splendour, the anatomy of the human body.

Gérôme's painted nudes of the nineties benefited from the intense study of the nude he had taken up as he started to sculpt. The foreground figure is, of course, carefully and precisely painted based on his sculpture of 1895 now in the Detroit Institute, itself modelled from direct observation in his studio.

Such transpositions provide a fascinating insight into the working methods underlying his finished compositions. While the setting for Femmes au bain is worked up from meticulous sketches and observations made on his travels, Gérôme knew a good studio model when he had one, joyously and unabashedly allowing her to re-appear in different guises.