Provenance
The artist (d. 1919); placed on deposit with Durand-Ruel, Paris, Aug. 1914 [per Hayward Gallery, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris]; sold jointly to Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Ambroise Vollard, Paris, and Durand-Ruel, Paris, Aug. 2, 1917 [per Bernheim-Jeune & Cie Archives; see Guy-Patrice Dauberville to the Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 27, 2001, curatorial object file]; all shares transferred to Durand-Ruel, Paris, Oct. 2, 1917. [per Bernheim-Jeune & Cie Archives, as confirmed by Camille Frémontier-Murphy to the Art Institute of Chicago, June 22, 2001, curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 23, 1945 [per Board of Trustees, Feb. 23, 1945, pp. 77–78, on file in Institutional Archives, Art Institute of Chicago].
Accession Number
110798
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
81.1 × 67.2 cm (31 7/8 × 26 7/8 in.); Framed: 92.8 × 80.7 × 6.4 cm (36 1/2 × 31 3/4 × 2 1/2 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Endowment; through prior bequest of Annie Swan Coburn to the Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Fund; through prior acquisition of the R. A. Waller Fund
Background & Context
Background Story
Renoir's Seated Bather shows a female bather seated, probably by the water, rendered with the soft, luminous style of Renoir's late period. The bather was one of Renoir's most enduring subjects, allowing him to explore the beauty of the female form in nature.
Cultural Impact
Renoir's bathers are among the most iconic images of feminine beauty in Impressionist art.
Why It Matters
This seated bather captures the sensuous beauty of Renoir's late style.
