Woman Bathing|Georges d' Espagnat |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 22 April 2025

Currently not on display

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Currently not on display

Georges d' Espagnat

1870 - 1950

Woman Bathing

Materials and Techniques	oil on canvas
Size（cm）	100.8 x 66
Inscriptions	Signed lower right: GdE
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	M446
Category	Paintings
Collection Number	P.1959-0092

D'Espagnat developed a strong sense of design from his study of classical paintings, and then created a style that combined this power with a gentle color palette. He later became the principal teacher at the École des Beaux-Arts and was an active successor to the Academic movement. He gained popularity for his decorative genre scenes depicting young women, and as can be seen in this work, combined a sweet, dream-like emotionalism with an academic sense of modeling. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, stock no. 10093, photo 7437; purchased from the above by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, 31 December 1921 [see records in the Durand-Ruel & Cie Archives, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.

Exhibition History

1988: 1920-30's Rhapsody in Paris: Painter Yasushi Tanaka and His Contemporaries, The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, 14 August 1988 - 30 September 1988, cat. no. 89, 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. 24, repr.
2023: Rendez-vous dans le Midi, Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art, 11 March 2023 - 18 June 2023, Utsunomiya Museum of Art, 2 juillet-24 septembre 2023, Fukushima Museum of Art, 7 octobre-10 décembre 2023, cat. no. 1-19, col. repr.

Bibliography

1961: Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-139.
1979: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 100, repr.
1988: Rhapsody in Paris: 1920-30's: Painter Yasushi Tanaka and His Contemporaries (exh. cat.). The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, ed. [Urawa], The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, 1988, pp. 58, 91, cat. no. 89, repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 584.
1992: The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p.33, cat. no. 23, col. repr
2018: The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 447, col. repr.
2023: Rendez-vous dans le Midi (exh.cat.). Nakamura, Moe et al., eds. [Tokyo], Curators, 2023, pp. 45, 189, cat. no. 1-19, col. repr.

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