Updated 09 January 2026
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
Reclining Woman Bather
| Date | 1906 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 54.8 x 65 |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower right: Renoir. |
| Credit Line | Donated by Mr. Ryuzaburo Umehara |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1974-0002 |
An interest in strongly delineated forms began to manifest itself in Renoir's style in the latter half of the 1880s; thereafter his style underwent a period of transformation as he sought to imbue his forms with a sense of presence through brush strokes and color. The nude in a landscape was one of the topics that Renoir most enjoyed grappling with during this period. This reclining nude suggests an image from a mythological painting, such as the goddess Venus or a woodland nymph. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Marlborough Fine Art, London; Wildenstein, London; Fischer Fine Art, London; Yayoi Gallery, Tokyo; Donated by Mr. Ryuzaburo Umehara, Tokyo, 1974
Exhibition History
- 1959
- 19th and 20th century European masters, Marlborough Fine Art, London, 0 1959 - 0 1959, cat. no. 61, repr. p. 31
- 1963
- A loan exhibition of the French impressionists and some of their contemporaries, in aid of the National Playing Fields Association and the Jewish National Fund, Wildenstein, London, 24 April 1963 - 18 May 1963, cat. no. 60, repr. p. 2
- 1983
- Modern Nude Paintings: 1880-1980, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 7 October 1983 - 4 December 1983
- 1986
- Renoir et les impressionnistes, Hokkaido Hakodate Museum of Art, 23 September 1986 - 3 November 1986, cat. no. 40, col. repr.
- 1989
- The French Modern Painting, from the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Miyakonojo City Museum, 15 April 1989 - 14 May 1989, cat. no. 8, repr.
- 1996
- The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 28
- 2005
- Late Umehara: His Art and Collection, The Shoto Museum of Art, 5 April 2005 - 15 May 2005, cat. no. C-39, col. repr.
- 2012
- Modern European Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Ibara Municipal Denchu Art Museum, 5 October 2012 - 25 November 2012, Iwami Art Museum, 22 December 2012-18 February 2013, cat. no. 11
- 2015
- NO MUSEUM, NO LIFE?: Art-Museum Encyclopedia to Come: From the Collections of the National Museums of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 16 June 2015 - 13 September 2015, cat. no. P-9
- 2016
- Bonjour, Monsieur Renoir: Renoir et Umehara - joie de peindre, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, 19 October 2016 - 9 January 2017, ABENO HARUKAS Art Museum, Osaka, 24 January-26 March, cat. no. 28, col. repr.
Bibliography
- 1918
- Vollard, Ambroise. Renoir. Tableaux, Pastels et Dessins de Pierre-Auguste Renoir. vol. 2, 1918, p. 45, repr.
- 1919
- Vollard, Ambroise. La vie & l'œuvre de Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Paris, A. Vollard, 1919, p. 250.
- 1960
- Connoisseur. June 1960, p. 5, repr. p. 4.
- 1975
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 44, repr.
- 1976
- Bulletin Annuel du Musée National d’Art Occidental. No. 9 (1974), 1976, Nouvelles acquisitions, par Chisaburoh F. Yamada, pp. 4-5. Nouvelles acquisitions (catalogue). pp. 12-13, repr.
- 1978
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 51, repr.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 237, repr.
- 1983
- Modern Nude Paintings 1880-1980 (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Art, Osaka, ed. [Suita], The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 1983, pp. 41, 116, cat. no. 117, repr.
- 1986
- Renoir et les impressionnistes (exh. cat.). Hokkaido Hakodate Museum of Art, ed. [Sapporo], The Hokkaido Shimbun, 1986, pp. 44, 117, cat. no. 40, col. repr.
- 1989
- Vollard, Ambroise. Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Paintings, Pastels and Drawings. First published in 1918 by Vollard, revised edition with first English translation, San Francisco, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1989, no. 908, repr.
- 2005
- Late Umehara: his art and collection(exh. cat.). The Shoto Museum of Art, ed. [Tokyo], The Shoto Museum of Art, 2005, cat. no. C-39, col. repr.
- 2012
- Modern European Art from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art (exh. cat.). Murakami, Hiroya, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 2012, pp. 28, 98, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
- 2016
- Bonjour, Monsieur Renoir: Renoir et Umehara - joie de peindre (exh. cat.). Mitsubishi Ichigoukan Museum, Tokyo et al., eds. [Tokyo], Curators, 2016, pp. 58, 185, cat, no, 28, col. repr.