The Bath, Second Version (Le Bain [deuxième planche])
ca. 1925
Pierre Bonnard
French, 1867-1947
European Art
Here, Pierre Bonnard employs the high vantage point and candid, unidealized approach to the female nude pioneered by his compatriot Degas. Bonnard, however, presents his bather frontally, seated in a full-length bathtub, a luxury not found in many French homes during Degas’s time. His model was his wife, Marthe, whose skin malady required long soaks.