Bonnard's painting of the daily routine of bathing, done from memory, captures the details of light reflected in a mirror and pointy red slippers. The woman is probably Marthe (Maria Boursin; 1869–1942), whom Bonnard met in 1893 and married in 1925.
[Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1910; acquired from the artist; sold on March 9, 1910 to Bernheim]; Émile Bernheim, Paris (1910–23; sold in 1923 to Bernheim-Jeune); [Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, from 1923; sold to Canonne]; Henri Canonne, Paris; Jacques Canonne (until 1942; his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, June 5, 1942, no. 8, as "Nu sortant du bain," sold for Fr 200,000); [Sam Salz, New York, until 1951; sold on January 25, 1951, for $8,000, to Gelman]; Jacques and Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1951–his d. 1986); Natasha Gelman, Mexico City and New York (1986–d. 1998; her bequest to MMA)
Paris. MM. Bernheim Jeune & Cie. "Exposition Bonnard," March 7–26, 1910, no. 20 (as "Cabinet de toilette au matin").
Museum of Modern Art, New York. "Bonnard and His Environment," October 7–November 29, 1964, no. 23 (as "Nude Leaving Bath," 1915, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Jacques Gelman, Mexico City).
Art Institute of Chicago. "Bonnard and His Environment," January 8–February 28, 1965, no. 23.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Bonnard and His Environment," March 31–May 30, 1965, no. 23.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," December 12, 1989–April 1, 1990, unnumbered cat. (p. 130; as "After the Bath").
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Twentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection," April 19–July 15, 1990, unnumbered cat.
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "De Matisse à Picasso: Collection Jacques et Natasha Gelman," June 18–November 1, 1994, unnumbered cat. (p. 154; as "After the Bath [Femme à la toilette]").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Painters in Paris: 1895–1950," March 8–December 31, 2000, extended to January 14, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 76; as "After the Morning Bath").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Kerry James Marshall Selects: Works from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 25, 2016–January 29, 2017, no catalogue.
"Ce que "vaut" la peinture moderne." Le Littoral (June 11, 1942), p. 2, notes that it sold for Fr 200,000 in the Jacques Canonne sale.
Michael Benedikt. "The Continuity of Pierre Bonnard." Art News 63 (October 1964), fig. 8.
Ronald Pickvance. "A New Look at Bonnard at Los Angeles County Museum of Art." Connoisseur 158 (April 1965), ill. p. 273.
Jean and Henry Dauberville. Bonnard: Catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Vol. 2, 1906–1919. Paris, 1968, p. 190, no. 596, ill., as "Cabinet de toilette au matin" or "Femme à la toilette"; date it 1910.
Lawrence Gowing inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, p. 22.
Sabine Rewald inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, pp. 130–31, 294, ill. (color and bw), identifies the figure as probably Marthe, Bonnard's future wife; suggests that the setting is either a bathroom in his Quai Voltaire studio or in a house that he visited in Saint-Tropez or Antwerp in September or November of 1910; mentions two other 1910 paintings of standing bathers in bathroom corners with a mirror (private collection, D594; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, D595); notes that Bonnard's series of bathers was painted from memory.
William S. Lieberman inTwentieth-Century Modern Masters: The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection. Ed. William S. Lieberman. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1989, p. 1, fig. 3 (color, installation photo).
Hidenori Kurita inPierre Bonnard. Ed. Hidenori Kurita et al. Exh. cat., Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. Nagoya, 1997, p. 249, under no. 74.
Laurence Castany. Dans la maison de Bonnard. Paris, 2012, p. 151, ill. p. 135 (color).
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than 470,000 artworks in The Met collection. As part of The Met’s Open Access program, the data is available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Pierre Bonnard (French, Fontenay-aux-Roses 1867–1947 Le Cannet)
1930
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
