The Bathers, Maurice Denis
Maurice Denis
The Bathers
DE
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Maurice Denis

The Bathers, 1907


Dimensions
129.5 x 196 cm
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Inventory Number
SG 178
Acquisition
Acquired in 1910
Status
On display, 1st upper level, Modern Art, room 6

Texts

About the Work

The Post-Impressionist painter Maurice Denis has committed to canvas a delicately coloured bathing scene, which nonetheless looks a little stiff and artificial. However, it is not intended to be realistic, but rather to make the artist's impression visually comprehensible. With their knotted hair and the white towels they have wrapped themselves in, the women look like goddesses. The interplay of light and shade is reproduced in light pastel hues, so that the graceful figures appear to be lost in reverie. The little girl in the centre of the painting lends the bathing scene a natural innocence.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
The Bathers
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert und datiert unten: MAVRICE DENIS 1907

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1910

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Primary
  • 25H landscapes
  • 31AA14 human figure of ideal proportions, e.g. academic nude - AA - female human figure
  • 31D15 adult woman
  • 31D112 child
  • 25H2 landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone)
  • 31A545 taking a bath
  • 25H15 forest, wood
Secondary

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Maurice Denis, Saint-Germain-en-Laye
verkauft an die Stadt Frankfurt am Main, 1910.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

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Last update

25.04.2024