Profile of Works
Woman After Bath
- 1896
- Oil on canvas
- 118.0 x 89.5 cm
The images of the TFAM’s collection on our website are available for free.
High-resolution image is available from PHOTO AGENCY.
Titled Seated Female Nude, or Woman After Bath, this work is one of the most brilliant achievements of the female nude figures that Renoir worked on painting later in his career.
In May 1896, Renoir held a solo exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris, and later, in July of the same year, moved to Rue de La Rochefoucault in Montmartre. This work was painted that year. Three years later, in January 1899, it was acquired by Durand-Ruel, and another three years later, in June 1902, was displayed in the “Renoir” exhibition held at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in Paris: This exhibition included 40 recent works by Renoir; there is a record that this work Woman After Bath was listed as the exhibit no. 23. Subsequently, this work has been housed in the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, after being a part of the collection of Oskar Reinhart, a world-renowned collector in Winterthur, Switzerland. In late 1898, not long after Renoir completed this painting, his rheumatism worsened to the point that he restricted movement in his right arm. Thereafter, his health was getting worse and worse, and he kept suffering from partial atrophy of his left eye muscle and repeated acute attacks of rheumatism. Even though those diseases were bothering him, his painting techniques continued to mature more and more. His female nude figures developed into the monumental depiction of human body that was without peer. This painting of a female nude wiping her foot after taking a bath has four variations that Renoir painted the woman in different poses from 1902 to 1906: One seated with her legs crossed outdoors, one wiping her left leg with a white cloth held in her right hand, and one brushing her hair with her left hand (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Detroit Institute of Arts, etc.).
The distinguishing points of this painting compared to the other paintings in this group are: the woman is sitting on cushions indoors, her body is viewed from the side, her legs are not crossed, and she is wiping her right leg. The sculptural sense of volume that can be felt in the depiction of her body could evoke the sculptures of his later years, and Renoir impressively captures the mass of her ample body. In terms of colors, her healthy skin tone that shines like singing a paean to life is perfectly blended with the white cloth and the familiar colors such as yellow, orange, green, and brown which are the attributes of Renoir’s paintings—this color palette that excludes black and limits itself exclusively to the pure colors of maximum intensity is referred to as a “rainbow palette”—to please the eyes of viewers. The matière conveys the texture like a smooth surface of porcelain rather than that of a painting: In fact, Renoir, a native of Limoges, had worked as a porcelain painter in his teens.
The reason that Renoir was fond of painting female nudes was that, for him, a female body was an ultimate form to be found amid nature’s bounty, and a means of painting was an act of admiring its physical beauty, eulogizing it, and establishing it as an eternal image. In this sense, it is impossible to define Renoir only within the framework of Impressionism. Rather, it would be essential to recognize him as the painter who belongs to the lineage of the great predecessors of painting, such as Titian and Rubens, and also as the painter who has the craftsmanship which is also common to Boucher.
The images of the TFAM’s collection on our website are available for free.
High-resolution image is available from PHOTO AGENCY.
ARTIST
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
(1841-1919)
Currently exhibiting
Sep 16, 2023 (Sat)
~Dec 10, 2023 (Sun)
Name of Exhibition :
Permanent Exhibition: From the Renaissance to the 20th Century—500 Years of Western Paintings
Place of Exhibition :
Permanent Exhibition Gallery 3
Exhibit history
- Apr 29, 2022 (Fri)~Jul 10, 2022 (Sun)
Transformation: Arts Crossing Borders in the 19th and 20th Centuries Artizon Museum (Tokyo, Japan) - Jan 12, 2019 (Sat)~May 4, 2019 (Sat)
500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Shanghai PowerLong Museum (Shanghai, China) - Oct 23, 2018 (Tue)~Dec 23, 2018 (Sun)
500 Years of Western Paintings: Collection of Tokyo Fuji Art Museum Tsinghua University Art Museum (Beijing, China) - Oct 1, 2000 (Sun)~Dec 3, 2000 (Sun)
Masterpieces of Western Paintings from the Renaissance to the 20th Century National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (Taipei, Taiwan) - Jun 24, 1995 (Sat)~Sep 3, 1995 (Sun)
French Impressionism: Symphony of Light and Color Santillana Foundation (Santillana, Spain) - Oct 16, 1992 (Fri)~Nov 5, 1992 (Thu)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting: The Paintings in 20th Century from the Renaissance to Impressionism China Art Gallery (Beijing, China) - Nov 3, 1990 (Sat)~Dec 2, 1990 (Sun)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Art Museum (Yongin-gun, Kyunggi-do, South Korea) - Sep 22, 1990 (Sat)~Oct 21, 1990 (Sun)
Masterpieces of European Oil Painting Ho-Am Gallery (Seoul, South Korea)
Origin of collections
- Provenance:
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris (25 Jan, 1899, purchased from the painter for 3,000F.)
A.A. Hebrard, Paris (3 Feb, 1906, purchased from Durand-Ruel for 110,000F)
Lord Alexandre de Wagram, Paris
Co.M. Knoedler, New York
Oscar Reinhardt, Winterthur (Switzerland)
Private Collection, Switzerland
Exhibited :
Renoir, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1902, no.23
Renoir and the Painter of the Postimpressionism, Alex Reid and Lefevre, London, 1930, no.10
Reference
Ambroise Vollard, Salon of Mrs. Carhpentier, L’Art et les Artistes, Paris, 1920, p.166, no.4
H. de Régnier, Renoir: Nude, Paris, 1923, pl.no.167
Gustave Coquiot, Renoir, 1925, p.225
Michel Florisoone, Renoir, London-Toronto, 1937, p.131
François Daulte, Catalogue raisonné de l’Œuvre peint de Renoir, Tome 2 Figures, 1891-1905, no.757 [En prépation]
Tokyo Fuji Art Museum
Yano-machi 492-1
Hachioji City, Tokyo 192-0016
Tel: 042-691-4511
Operating Hours
10:00-17:00(Reception closes at 16:30)
Closed
—Mondays (except on holidays, then closed on Tuesday)
JR Hachioji Station (North Exit)
From the first bus to 12:29 pm
No. 14 Nishi-Tokyo Bus Platform
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN).
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Loop (SOKA DAIGAKU JUNKAN).
Get off the Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN)
After 12:31 pm
No. 12 Nishi-Tokyo Bus Platform (via Hiyodori-Yama Tunnel)
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN)
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Loop (SOKA DAIGAKU JUNKAN).
No. 11 Nishi-Tokyo Bus Platform (via Yokamachi)
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Loop (SOKA DAIGAKU JUNKAN).
Every Get off the Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN)
Keio Hachioji Station
No. 4 Nishi-Tokyo Bus Platform
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN).
・Take the bus departing for Soka University Loop (SOKA DAIGAKU JUNKAN).
Get off the Soka University Main Gate / Tokyo Fuji Art Museum (SOKA DAIGAKU / TOKYO FUJI BIJUTSUKAN)
JR Haijima Station
*Bus available every one hour
detail
JR Akikawa Station
*Bus available every one hour
detail
Visit
Exhibitions
- Schedule of Exhibitions
- Now Showing
- Upcoming Exhibitions
- Concluded Exhibitions
- Poster Gallery
- Media Relations
- Notice and Request for Visitors
Events Information
Our Collection
- Tour of Our Collection
- Exhibited Collected Works
- Upcoming TFAM Works Exhibits
- Works on Loan
- Loan Schedule of Collected Works
- Works on Loan Returned
- Search of Collected Works
- Ranking
Learning Program
- For Visitors with Children
- Initiatives for Schools
- Initiatives for Colleges
- Education-Related Services
- Inquiry Form & Education PDF