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Lot Essay
A photo-certificate from Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville dated Paris, 2 April 1999 accompanies this drawing.
From her bowl-shaped hairstyle with short bangs the model in his drawings is easily identified as Marthe de Mélingy (born Maria Boursin, 1869-1942), Bonnard's lifelong companion and his most frequent model. Timid and reclusive, she suffered from a form of tuberculosis or asthma, and it is possible that she developed her compulsion to bathe frequently as a form of hydrotherapy. Making use of her routine, and looking at the precedent of Degas's late series of bathers, Bonnard began painting Marthe at her toilette in the early 1900s. The emphasis on the figure set in a relatively empty space is characteristic of an important series of bathers which Bonnard painted in 1914-1917. This drawing is perhaps related to La Source ou Nu dans le baignoire (Dauberville no. 1890; private collection), which is notable for its backlit, angled pose set within a stark but glowing interior.
From her bowl-shaped hairstyle with short bangs the model in his drawings is easily identified as Marthe de Mélingy (born Maria Boursin, 1869-1942), Bonnard's lifelong companion and his most frequent model. Timid and reclusive, she suffered from a form of tuberculosis or asthma, and it is possible that she developed her compulsion to bathe frequently as a form of hydrotherapy. Making use of her routine, and looking at the precedent of Degas's late series of bathers, Bonnard began painting Marthe at her toilette in the early 1900s. The emphasis on the figure set in a relatively empty space is characteristic of an important series of bathers which Bonnard painted in 1914-1917. This drawing is perhaps related to La Source ou Nu dans le baignoire (Dauberville no. 1890; private collection), which is notable for its backlit, angled pose set within a stark but glowing interior.