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Lot Essay
The figure bathing at the centre of this sylvan landscape is most probably Marie Boursin (1869-1942) whom Bonnard met in 1893, the year this oil was executed. 'Marthe', as she was known, was to remain his muse for the rest of his life.
The painting is best known as La baignade but it also has a secondary title, La baignade prs du bateau, which helps to explain the complex composition. The young girl is about to step into a pool which has strong golden reflections from the trees above, the balustrade of a bridge crosses the composition behind her and beneath passes a small sailing boat as it embarks across the glistening sea beyond.
As is the case with many of these beautiful early panels, Bonnard has been strongly influenced by Japanese printmakers in the arrangement of his composition. The steep aerial perspective and the dramatic foreshortening come directly from Utamaro and Hiroshige. It is no coincidence that in May of 1893, Paul Durand-Ruel had organised a special exhibition of their most celebrated prints in his Paris gallery. In essence, even the craftmanship of these small elaborated panels, with their jewelled impasto and incised lines, is entirely in keeping with the precious nature of Japanese objets d'art. Nicolas Watkins enlarges on the Japanese influence on the present piece: "The sinuous outline and graceful curve of [the bather's] long back reflect the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, notably the work of Utamaro (1753-1806). The technique of the painting shows that it was conceived in terms of line; in places such as the back of her left hand the contour is virtually incized into the surface of panel. The transformation of Marthe into a nymph in a landscape setting in La Baignade anticipates the subject matter of Bonnard's illustrations to Daphnis et Chlo, published in 1902." (Nicolas Watkins, Bonnard, London, 1994, p.36).
Watkins' allusion to Daphnis et Chlo is particularly apt since one of the more beautiful illustrations seems to be a direct adaptation of the present painting (fig. 1).
The painting is best known as La baignade but it also has a secondary title, La baignade prs du bateau, which helps to explain the complex composition. The young girl is about to step into a pool which has strong golden reflections from the trees above, the balustrade of a bridge crosses the composition behind her and beneath passes a small sailing boat as it embarks across the glistening sea beyond.
As is the case with many of these beautiful early panels, Bonnard has been strongly influenced by Japanese printmakers in the arrangement of his composition. The steep aerial perspective and the dramatic foreshortening come directly from Utamaro and Hiroshige. It is no coincidence that in May of 1893, Paul Durand-Ruel had organised a special exhibition of their most celebrated prints in his Paris gallery. In essence, even the craftmanship of these small elaborated panels, with their jewelled impasto and incised lines, is entirely in keeping with the precious nature of Japanese objets d'art. Nicolas Watkins enlarges on the Japanese influence on the present piece: "The sinuous outline and graceful curve of [the bather's] long back reflect the influence of Japanese woodblock prints, notably the work of Utamaro (1753-1806). The technique of the painting shows that it was conceived in terms of line; in places such as the back of her left hand the contour is virtually incized into the surface of panel. The transformation of Marthe into a nymph in a landscape setting in La Baignade anticipates the subject matter of Bonnard's illustrations to Daphnis et Chlo, published in 1902." (Nicolas Watkins, Bonnard, London, 1994, p.36).
Watkins' allusion to Daphnis et Chlo is particularly apt since one of the more beautiful illustrations seems to be a direct adaptation of the present painting (fig. 1).