Lot Essay
This work is recorded in the Vollard archives, photo no. 300 (annotated by Czanne's son: 1877)
A vigorously executed painting of a nude, Czanne's Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux has been dated by Venturi, Gowing and Rewald, to the end of the first decade of the painter's career. However, Krumrine dated the painting to circa 1875-77, and cited its close resemblance to the standing figure at the left of Czanne's drawing of Trois baigneuses of circa 1875-77 (Chappuis no. 365). The artist's luminous palette here, seen especially in his handling of the brilliant white cloth the bather holds aloft and in his treatment of the legs, might also argue for a later chronology. And although his dating of his father's work has often been questioned, it should be noted that Czanne's son also dated this canvas to 1877, evidenced by its fractured brushwork typical from the mid-1870s onwards.
The pose of the nude displays Czanne's awareness of Ingres' La source. However, Czanne transformed the stylized elegance of the Ingres into the more angst-ridden mood of the present work. The tension apparent in Baigneuse debout is seminal to his handling of this subject matter over the next three decades. "Czanne's pictures of the nudes show that he could not convey his feeling for women without anxiety" (M. Schapiro, Modern Art, New York, 1978, p. 10). Indeed the underlying eroticism conveyed through his expressive application of paint is the basis for the depiction of the nude within the modern canon. Painted from his imagination and standing in a stream of vivid blue, Czanne's exquisite nude bather may also have enjoyed a noted provenance. The Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), with whom Czanne worked at Pontoise in the 1870s and always claimed as a mentor, is known to have collected a number of works by Czanne, first from the Parisian paint dealer Pre Tanguy (who was the first to show Czanne's work in Paris), and later, after Czanne's 1895 exhibition at Vollard's gallery, from the Parisian dealer. Though he was able to exchange one of his early Louveciennes landscape studies for three sketches by Czanne, Vollard's ledgers also record the sale of another picture to Pissarro on 12 December 1895 for 200 francs: "1 peinture Femme nue debout en hauteur de Czanne 200." Both Rewald and Jayne Warman assume that this description corresponds most closely to Czanne's Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux.
(fig. 1) Pellerin's study showing Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux hanging on the left.
A vigorously executed painting of a nude, Czanne's Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux has been dated by Venturi, Gowing and Rewald, to the end of the first decade of the painter's career. However, Krumrine dated the painting to circa 1875-77, and cited its close resemblance to the standing figure at the left of Czanne's drawing of Trois baigneuses of circa 1875-77 (Chappuis no. 365). The artist's luminous palette here, seen especially in his handling of the brilliant white cloth the bather holds aloft and in his treatment of the legs, might also argue for a later chronology. And although his dating of his father's work has often been questioned, it should be noted that Czanne's son also dated this canvas to 1877, evidenced by its fractured brushwork typical from the mid-1870s onwards.
The pose of the nude displays Czanne's awareness of Ingres' La source. However, Czanne transformed the stylized elegance of the Ingres into the more angst-ridden mood of the present work. The tension apparent in Baigneuse debout is seminal to his handling of this subject matter over the next three decades. "Czanne's pictures of the nudes show that he could not convey his feeling for women without anxiety" (M. Schapiro, Modern Art, New York, 1978, p. 10). Indeed the underlying eroticism conveyed through his expressive application of paint is the basis for the depiction of the nude within the modern canon. Painted from his imagination and standing in a stream of vivid blue, Czanne's exquisite nude bather may also have enjoyed a noted provenance. The Impressionist painter, Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), with whom Czanne worked at Pontoise in the 1870s and always claimed as a mentor, is known to have collected a number of works by Czanne, first from the Parisian paint dealer Pre Tanguy (who was the first to show Czanne's work in Paris), and later, after Czanne's 1895 exhibition at Vollard's gallery, from the Parisian dealer. Though he was able to exchange one of his early Louveciennes landscape studies for three sketches by Czanne, Vollard's ledgers also record the sale of another picture to Pissarro on 12 December 1895 for 200 francs: "1 peinture Femme nue debout en hauteur de Czanne 200." Both Rewald and Jayne Warman assume that this description corresponds most closely to Czanne's Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux.
(fig. 1) Pellerin's study showing Baigneuse debout, s'essuyant les cheveux hanging on the left.