Lot Essay
Bonnard's exploration of the female nude began in the early 1900s and was a subject that he would return to throughout his career. His primary model was Marthe de Mligny, whom he met in 1893 when he was 26 years old. She became his constant companion, muse and eventually his wife. In the present painting, Bonnard depicts Marthe completely absorbed with her toilette unaware of his (and our) presence. Marthe's obsession with her health, which eventually resulted in lengthy bathing rituals, and her willingness to be painted in her boudoir, enabled Bonnard to capture the intimacy of the female world, which so fascinated him.
Sasha Newman discusses the importance of the theme of the female nude in Bonnard's oeuvre,
"In 1908, Bonnard moved away from his earlier intimiste style toward a more impressionistic and atmospheric feeling for light and nature. At this time he also began to explore further the subject of the female nude, which was to remain a central motif throughout his late work. Bonnard's nudes at their toilette reflect the evolution of a highly personal vision, replete with references to the artist's own art, his external experiences, and the long and complex artistic tradition in which they are located. The model is most often Marthe--Marthe at her bath, Marthe caught unaware before her dressing table, Marthe partially glimpsed through a mirror. Yet, while the paintings refer to a specific woman, they are about Bonnard's way of seeing, and, finally, they are about light--the light that irradiates, denoting possession, and the light that disintegrates, signifying loss" (S.M. Newman, Bonnard The late Paintings, exh. cat., The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1984, p. 114).
Bonnard's debt to the legacy of Degas is apparent in Femme au tub, not only in the depiction of a woman washing herself in a zinc tub, but also in its compositional format with the use of an unusual angle and perspective. The nude, with bent head and obscured features is viewed from above as she crouches in front of a washbasin in a large bathing tub. Bonnard made at least ten versions of this scene from 1910-1918.
Sasha Newman discusses the importance of the theme of the female nude in Bonnard's oeuvre,
"In 1908, Bonnard moved away from his earlier intimiste style toward a more impressionistic and atmospheric feeling for light and nature. At this time he also began to explore further the subject of the female nude, which was to remain a central motif throughout his late work. Bonnard's nudes at their toilette reflect the evolution of a highly personal vision, replete with references to the artist's own art, his external experiences, and the long and complex artistic tradition in which they are located. The model is most often Marthe--Marthe at her bath, Marthe caught unaware before her dressing table, Marthe partially glimpsed through a mirror. Yet, while the paintings refer to a specific woman, they are about Bonnard's way of seeing, and, finally, they are about light--the light that irradiates, denoting possession, and the light that disintegrates, signifying loss" (S.M. Newman, Bonnard The late Paintings, exh. cat., The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., 1984, p. 114).
Bonnard's debt to the legacy of Degas is apparent in Femme au tub, not only in the depiction of a woman washing herself in a zinc tub, but also in its compositional format with the use of an unusual angle and perspective. The nude, with bent head and obscured features is viewed from above as she crouches in front of a washbasin in a large bathing tub. Bonnard made at least ten versions of this scene from 1910-1918.