Cat. 19
Splashing Figure (Study for “The Large Bathers”)
1884/85
Red, white, and black chalk, with stumping, and black Conté crayon, on tan wove (tracing) paper, laid down on canvas; 989 × 635 mm
The Art Institute of Chicago, bequest of Kate L. Brewster, 1949.514
Renoir made this important figure study in the mid-1880s as part of an extensive body of work in preparation for The Large Bathers (fig. 2.23 [Daulte 514; Dauberville 1292]). That painting, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, proved pivotal in his career; it signaled the artist’s move away from Impressionism and his increased interest in the art of the past. The theme of the major work is in many respects timeless: three women wash and rest in the foreground of a wooded landscape, while two others, far smaller in scale, relax in the water beyond.
The Bathers project evolved during a period in which Renoir experimented with techniques and ultimately distanced himself from the methods employed by his Impressionist peers. Although he had exhibited alongside them for more than a decade, the group had become less cohesive by the mid-1880s, and its members had dispersed. Also at this stage, Renoir sought more affluent patrons in order to ease his pressing financial worries. In his adoption of Classical form—and the theme of bathers specifically—he sought to create works that would appeal to wealthy buyers.
The original inspiration for the three-quarter-length figure in the present work may have been an eighteenth-century relief sculpture made by François Girardon for the Allée des Marmousets of the Palace of Versailles. As Douglas Druick has noted, Renoir managed to evoke a sense of the sculptural on the sheet by creating a halo of white around the bather. Though the artist used a limited palette, he achieved a wide range of effects, adding layers of medium before blending or removing them with a stump or rag. Applied over the white chalk, the blacks look almost blue, suggestive of veins beneath flesh. Reds convey the warmth of skin; smooth white highlights provide luminosity. The dryness of chalk also seems to have informed the development of the painting, for, at this moment of his career, Renoir preferred fresco-like finishes when he worked in oil. The texture of the canvas in The Large Bathers and the grain of the paper in the Art Institute’s sheet remain pronounced, even beneath successive applications of color.
The Large Bathers was clearly a test of Renoir’s technical mastery. The range of his preparations seems to have impressed Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, who wrote of her admiration for the artist’s draftsmanship, with mention of a “whole series done from the same model and with about the same movement” that she saw in his studio in 1886. Morisot believed that knowledge of this tireless process would challenge the public’s assumption that “the Impressionists work in a very casual way.” Upon its completion, however, opinion varied regarding its merit. When the canvas was first displayed in 1887, for instance, the artist Camille Pissarro complained to his son Lucien that Renoir had “only wanted to concern himself with line; the figures are detached from one another with no thought for the harmonies, so it’s incomprehensible.” He suggested that Renoir’s focus on the individual figures (as typified by Splashing Figure) had been to the detriment of the overall composition.
Certainly, the project was more labored than any the artist had attempted previously. Other studies for The Large Bathers indicate that, before deciding on the pose of the woman in the Art Institute’s sheet, Renoir toyed with the idea of showing the splashing figure from the front. Even when he did settle on a view from behind, he experimented with a different model (fig. 2.24 [Dauberville 1521]): Nude Woman, Study for the “Great Bathers” shows a fuller-figured woman in a similar position, who Guy Patrice and Michel Dauberville have suggested is Suzanne Valadon. The model for this figure in Three Bathers by the Water (fig. 2.25 [Dauberville 1562]), whose physique falls between that of the Splashing Figure and the Nude Woman, is also viewed from behind. Her hands are cupped, and she has a similar tilt to her head.
Drawings in the Fogg Museum (fig. 2.26 [Dauberville 1567]) and the Hugo Perls Collection (fig. 2.30 [Dauberville 1568]), joined together, might offer the closest compositional arrangement to that of The Large Bathers. The former features the two more voluptuous women who appear on the left and in the middle of the painting, while the latter includes an equivalent to the Splashing Figure (leaning slightly farther forward, with a more pronounced shoulder blade), the toe of the bather to her left, and a variant of the background group.
However, technical examination reveals that the Art Institute’s sheet is more intimately related to the completed painting than is initially apparent, which may mean that it succeeded the Hugo Perls work in the sequence of preparatory drawings for the project. The figure in the present sheet resembles her counterpart in the finished work more closely. Furthermore, when Art Institute paper conservator Kimberly Nichols examined the drawing under ultraviolet light, it became evident that a foot had originally appeared to the left of the model. This detail was erased at some point: perhaps by Renoir himself, if he preferred the look of the isolated figure on the page, or perhaps by someone else, who cut the drawing from a larger sheet to make one or more salable works.
The Bathers series may have marked a departure from Renoir’s earlier stylistic choices but, inevitably, there remain certain traits of his previous practice in Splashing Figure. The artist struggled to depict hands eloquently, and, as the awkward, pointed digits here indicate, this instance was no exception. But elsewhere, in the strands of flyaway hair beside the ear or in the thick coils of the braid, his confidence is evident. Such details suggest why, in later life, Renoir would still look back on The Large Bathers as his masterpiece.
Nancy Ireson
Technical Report
Technical Summary
Numerous studies in graphite, Conté crayon, pastel, and oil were created in preparation for The Large Bathers (fig. 2.23 [Daulte 514; Dauberville 1292]). Splashing Figure is one of three known studies of the figure at far right in the painting. The drawing employs the traditional use of trois crayon, a combination of white, red, and black chalks, in creating the composition, which is centered on a sheet of smooth, thin tan paper laid down on [glossary:canvas]. The figure appears to have been initially defined with black chalk, over which a base layer of white chalk was applied in the general shape of the figure’s form. This white underlayer appears to have been worked into the paper surface with a [glossary:stump] or rag; some streaks of chalk radiate outward from the image. This underlayer set the figure apart from the tan tonality of the paper and allowed Renoir to work from dark to light to create luminosity and tonal variation in the figure. This technique may have drawn upon the artist’s early experiences working with porcelain.
Black chalk applied over the underlying white chalk defines the general shape of the figure and establishes the flesh tones. Red and black chalks applied interchangeably establish the middle and dark tones. Volume is established by broad tonal passages of red chalk stumped or blended with the white chalk. To create subtle highlights and tonal transitions, a subtractive technique was used whereby red-chalk passages were rubbed down or away to further expose the underlying layer of white chalk. In some areas, the white underlayer is almost completely exposed, creating highlights; this is most noticeable in the face (fig. 1.2). In the shoulder, the chalk layers were rubbed away to such a degree that the paper fibers are exposed and slightly abraded (fig. 1.1). Finally, both red and black chalks were used to create strands of hair and establish facial features and details. A strong horizontal black line at the bottom of the composition suggests the waterline seen in other study drawings for this figure.
Some areas of the composition are slightly reworked, and the pentimenti are visible under normal conditions. Almost apparent, the figure’s hands were reworked to form a more acute cupped shape, placed slightly higher than in the original rendering (fig. 2.20). The former lines appear to have been rubbed out or blended; it is not clear whether additional white chalk was applied to mask the initial drawn lines before reworking them. [glossary:Infrared reflectography] (IRR) reveals that the arms were initially modeled with black chalk and the buttocks were reworked. The ear, lips, chin, and neck were also reworked to tilt the head back a bit more (fig. 1.3). In addition, a faint rendering of a foot, formerly erased, is visible with IRR and under [glossary:UV] at the lower left side of the sheet (fig. 2.22). The presence of this foot suggests that the composition once extended further at the left side but was at some point cut down.
Though Splashing Figure most certainly relates to The Large Bathers, close study of the technical findings and other works of the same subject reveals that Splashing Figure most closely corresponds to The Great Bathers (fig. 2.28 [Dauberville 1291]) and its preparatory drawing, Three Bathers by the Water (fig. 2.25 [Dauberville 1562]). Indeed, Christopher Riopelle has suggested that these two works may be the first fully realized figural arrangements for The Large Bathers. In the painting and study, the center figure’s proper left arm reaches up for a tree branch, and it may be this figure’s reach that is represented by the parallel lines in the upper left corner of Splashing Figure. By contrast both of the center figure’s arms reach downward in The Large Bathers. In addition, the hands of the far right “splashing figure” are cupped in all three works, but are flat in The Large Bathers. Furthermore, the erased foot that is observed in IRR/UV entering from the left side of Splashing Figure exhibits the same orientation as the proper left foot of the reclining figure on the far left in Three Bathers by the Water and The Large Bathers—whereas it is the proper right foot that extends from the center figure in The Large Bathers. There are also no additional figures in the background of Three Bathers by the Water and Splashing Figure, though some are represented in another study of the “splashing figure”: Study, Three Right Figures and Part of a Foot (fig. 2.30 [Dauberville 1568]). Lastly, the paper supports of both drawings are almost identical in height, suggesting that they may originate from the same period of the artist’s work.
Media and Support
Support Characteristics
Primary Paper Type
Tan, thin, smooth [glossary:wove] paper.
Watermark
Leyand E-Paul a Gemens (ISERE) is partially visible along the center bottom edge of the [glossary:support], above the strainer, with infrared reflectography (fig. 1.4). Documentation for this [glossary:watermark] could not be found; Gemens likely refers to a parish, and Isere to the river in southeastern France that was important for paper production starting in the sixteenth century.
Furnish
Highly uniform, with some dark fiber-bark inclusions.
Formation
Even, machine made.
Other characteristics
The edges of the paper support are wrapped with paper tape and not visible.
Dimensions
Approx. 989 × 635 mm (the edges of the sheet are not visible).
Secondary support
Canvas: Most likely linen, [glossary:plain weave]. There is not enough exposed [glossary:weave] to provide an accurate weave count. The primary paper support is adhered overall to the canvas. The weave structure has transferred to the paper, most likely due to strong pressure or moisture introduced during the mounting process; this texture is most apparent in raking illumination. There are no labels or marks on the verso. Dimensions: 1025× 6073 mm.
Stretcher: Seven-member keyable wooden [glossary:stretcher] with one vertical and two horizontal half-lap cross-braces. The dimensions are standard for nineteenth-century French stretchers. The paper and canvas supports are wrapped taut around the stretcher and nailed along the sides at intervals of approximately 1.5–2 cm. The sides of the stretcher are wrapped with brown gummed paper tape that hides the nail heads; the paper tape extends 5 cm over the recto of the support and wraps over the side edges, overlapping to varying degrees onto the verso. There are remnants of various materials around the perimeter of the stretcher, including a former dark blue-green paper on the verso; there is also evidence of pressure-sensitive tape and adhesive residue. There are no labels or marks on the verso. Dimensions: 100.0 × 65.0 × 17 cm.
Preparatory Layers
There does not appear to be any surface material or preparation overall; an irregular application of white chalk is evident in the area below the figure.
Under UV illumination, the paper surface emits a pale yellow visible-light [glossary:fluorescence] that is characteristic of a gelatin sizing in the paper.
Media Characteristics
The figure was drawn in red, white, and black chalk. Analysis indicates the presence of iron oxide and possibly calcium carbonate and carbon black. The form was first generally worked out in black chalk, over which a layer of white chalk was laid down in the center area and extending just beyond the figure. It appears to have been blended overall with a stump or rag, as the chalk is worked into the interstices of the paper fibers rather than simply resting in clumps on the surface. Some streaks of white chalk radiate outward from the image. Black chalk was applied over the underlying white-chalk layer to define the general shape of the form. Red and black chalks were then applied interchangeably to establish middle and dark tones. Passages of red chalk were blended into the white chalk to create volume in the figure’s body and subtle tonal transitions in the face. Some areas were then rubbed away, further exposing the underlying layer of white chalk to create highlights and subtle tonal transitions; in some chalk passages the rubbing caused some surface disruption of the paper fibers. Black chalk (possibly dampened) or [glossary:Conté crayon] were used to create fine, detailed lines in the head, face, and hands.
Compositional Development
The composition was reworked in some areas by rubbing away previously drawn lines and applying new lines in black and red chalk. Under magnification, white and red chalk are blended together on the surface of the reworked passages; there are no pure strokes of white chalk on the surface to confirm that additional white chalk was added to conceal former drawing lines. Most noticeably, the figure’s proper right hand at the lower left area was adjusted to create a more cupped form set at almost ninety-degree angle to her arm, and hidden almost completely by her proper left hand. The figure’s proper right arm was also reworked to raise it slightly higher than it was initially drawn. Some areas of her torso, including her back, buttocks, stomach, and arms were slightly reworked. The ear, lips, chin, and neck were also shifted slightly up and back to tilt the head back a bit more. In addition, examination under UV and infrared reflectography revealed that another figure’s foot once entered the composition at the lower left side of the support but was formerly erased (fig. 2.22). The presence of this foot also suggests that the composition was once larger, extending further on the left side, but was at some point cut down.
Surface Treatment
In raking illumination, an irregular, transparent, light-reflectance is visible on the paper surface in areas not covered by media; it is unclear whether this reflectance is due to a light-working fixative applied to the drawing at an early stage of its development, or simply is evidence of a heavy sizing applied to the paper surface before the composition was executed. Under magnification, areas of media appear quite powdery and do not reveal any trace of a fine particulate that would suggest that a surface fixative was applied upon completion of the drawing. The paper surface emits a faint visible-light fluorescence under UV illumination that is also characteristic of a gelatin [glossary:sizing] in the paper; the visible-light fluorescence is less prominent in areas where the paper was not protected from increased oxidation by the [glossary:strainer]. There are numerous, small, irregular areas of absorption that could be the result of retouched surface alterations. Fingerprints and residue from the adhesive used to mount the paper to the canvas also emit a bright yellowish-white visible-light fluorescence.
Condition History
The paper, originally a light tan tone, exhibits moderate overall discoloration. There are small, irregular surface alterations throughout, although most concentrated along the perimeter that may be areas of [glossary:retouching]. There is a dark streak along the right side, and the perimeter exhibits some darkening and surface soiling. Some small losses are visible in thickly applied areas of media, and there are some small scratches. Most notably there are fine horizontal creases that exhibit some media loss and darkening.
The drawing appears stable overall and well adhered to its mount and stretcher. There are loose and unraveled threads along the canvas edge.
Kimberly Nichols
Provenance
Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939), Paris.
Sold by Adrien Hébrard (1833–1914), Paris, to Bernheim-Jeune & Cie., Paris, May 29, 1925.
Sold by Bernheim-Jeune & Cie., Paris, to Walter S. Brewster (1872–1954) and Kate L. Brewster (c. 1879–1947), Lake Forest, Ill., Mar. 19, 1926.
Bequeathed by Kate L. Brewster to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1949.
Exhibition History
Chicago, Arts Club, A Loan Exhibition of Some Modern Paintings, Dec. 21, 1926–Jan 21, 1927, cat. 13.
Chicago, home of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Brewster, Special View for the Benefit of Chicago Public School Art Society of the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter S. Brewster, Jan. 20–22, 1933, cat. 24.
Paris, Musée de l’Orangerie, De David à Toulouse-Lautrec: Chefs-d’oeuvre des collections americaines, 1955, cat. 87 (ill.).
New York, Wildenstein and Company, Master Drawings from the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 17–Nov. 30, 1963, cat. 113 (ill.).
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Dessins français de l’Art Institute de Chicago de Watteau à Picasso, Oct.15, 1976–Jan. 17, 1977, cat. 68 (ill.).
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Französische Zeichnungen aus dem Art Institute of Chicago, Feb. 10–Apr. 10, 1977, cat. 61 (ill.).
Tokyo, Isetan Museum of Art, Auguste Renoir, Sept. 22–Nov. 6, 1979, cat. 90 (ill.); Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Nov. 10–Dec. 9, 1979.
Art Institute of Chicago, Undressed: The Fashion of Privacy, June 22–Sept. 29, 2013, no cat.
Selected References
Julius Meier-Graefe, Renoir (H. Floury, 1912), p. 193 (ill.).
C. J. Bulliet, Apples and Madonnas: Emotional Expression in Modern Art (Covici Friede, 1930) (ill.).
Michel Drucker, Renoir (Pierre Tisné, 1944), pl. 4, no. 2.
John Rewald, Renoir Drawings (H. Bittner, 1946), p. 20, no. 41 (ill.).
Graham Reynolds, Nineteenth-Century Drawings (Pleiades, 1949), no. 11 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly 49, 2 (Apr. 1955), p. 29.
François Daulte, Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Water-colours, Pastels, and Drawings in Colour, trans. Robert Allen (Faber & Faber, 1959), no. 7 (ill.).
Ira Moskowitz, Great Drawings of All Time, vol. 2 (Shorewood, 1962), no. 802 (ill.)
Maurice Sérullaz and Arlette Sérullaz, L’ottocento francese (Fratelli Fabbri, 1970), pp. 73, no. 28 (ill.) and 91.
John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (Thames & Hudson, 1970), pp. 159–60 (ill.).
Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels, Seeing with the Mind’s Eye: The History, Techniques, and Uses of Visualization (Random House, 1975) (ill.).
Anthea Callen, Renoir (Oresko, 1978), p. 88, no. 71 (ill.).
Harold Joachim and Sandra Haller Olsen, French Drawings and Sketchbooks of the Nineteenth Century, vol. 2 (University of Chicago Press, 1979), p. 91, no. 5D9.
Richard R. Brettell, French Impressionists (Art Institute of Chicago, 1987), pp. 84–85, 119 (ill.).
Horst Keller, Auguste Renoir (Bruckmann München, 1987), p. 127, no. 102 (ill.).
Mosaic: Survey of the Art Institute of Chicago (May–June 1987), p. 7 (ill.).
Christopher Riopelle, “Renoir: The Great Bathers,” Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin 86 (Fall 1990), pp. 27–28, fig. 29.
Anne Distel, Renoir: A Sensuous Vision (Thames & Hudson, 1995), p. 95 (ill.).
Barbara Ehrlich White, Impressionists Side by Side: Their Friendships, Rivalries, and Artistic Exchanges (Knopf, 1996), p. 228 (ill.).
Douglas W. Druick, Renoir, Artists in Focus (Art Institute of Chicago/Abrams, 1997) pp. 61, 64, 98, no. 17 (ill.), 111.
Susan Rayfield, First Impressions: Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Abrams, 1998), p. 69 (ill.)
Guy-Patrice Dauberville and Michel Dauberville, Renoir: Catalogue raisonné des tableaux, pastels, dessins, et aquarelles, vol. 2, 1882–1894 (Bernheim-Jeune, 2009), p. 515, no. 1517 (ill.).
Christopher Lloyd, Impressionism: Pastels, Watercolors, Drawings, exh. cat. (Milwaukee Art Museum, 2011), pp. 50–51, fig. 17.
Other Documentation
Examination Conditions and Technical Analysis
Raking Visible Light
Paper support characteristics identified.
Transmitted Visible Light
Paper mold characteristics identified.
Ultraviolet-Induced Visible Fluorescence (Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-NiteCC1 filter and Kodak Wratten 2E filter)
Application of surface films examined.
Infrared Reflectography (Fujifilm S5 Pro with X-Nite 1000B/2 mm filter [1.0–1.1 um])
Corrections and/or changes in the initial composition identified; watermark at center bottom edge of support identified.
Stereomicroscopy (80–100×)
Media and technical development identified.
X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Identified iron oxide and calcium-based pigments. Several spots on the drawing were analyzed in situ with a Bruker/Keymaster TRACeR III-V with rhodium tube.
Image Inventory
The image inventory compiles records of all known images of the artwork on file in the Imaging Department and in the conservation and curatorial files in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago (fig. 2.29).
