Louis Michel Eilshemius, Nude Women on the Beach, 1907, Oil on board, Questroyal Fine Art, LLC.  Click to inquire.

Edgar Degas, Après le Bain, Pastel Counterproof, Galerie Michael.  Click to inquire.

FADA’s inventory borrows from this lineage with modern and contemporary interpretations of the classical pose. Interestingly, most of the artworks of the bath involve female subjects.  Whether justifying the nudity of women or perhaps trying to evoke the tenderness between mother and child, the bath scene requires added interpretation when dissecting the relationship between the male artist and female subject.  Included are nudes by female artists.

  Lorser Feitelson, Bathers, Oil on canvas, George Stern Fine Arts.  Click to inquire.

Sally Swatland, Bathtime, Oil on panel, Rehs Galleries, Inc.  Click to inquire.

Nonetheless male nudity, examined in a recent exposition at the Musée d’Orsay, is often utilized to exaggerate the heroism or athleticism of its subjects-and will be the subject of next week’s post.  Comparing and contrasting the male and female nude body and their positions often involves a meditation of historical and contemporary body ideals.

Lillian Genth, Nude by a Waterfall, Oil on canvas, Guarisco Gallery.  Click to inquire.