Bathing|Maurice Denis |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 18 April 2025

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Currently not on display

Maurice Denis

Granville, 1870 - Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1943

Bathing

Date	1920
Materials and Techniques	oil on canvas
Size（cm）	116 x 120.2
Inscriptions	Signed and dated lower left: MAVRICE DENIS 1920
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	M381
Category	Paintings
Collection Number	P.1959-0065

This work is thought to show the coast near Denis' villa at Perros-Guirec. The youth holding an oar and the boy holding the bow with both hands are both images of Denis' grandson Dominic, and the boy in the foreground is his second son François. The strong palette and the naturalist depiction of the figures differ from the symbolist works of the artist's early years, but the formalized depiction of the waves is a relic of his decorative style. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Galerie E. Druet, Paris on behalf of Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, ca. July 1921, stock no. 9562 [see records in the Archives Catalogue raisonné Maurice Denis, Saint-Germain-en-Laye]; 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

1921: Exposition Maurice Denis, Galerie Druet, Paris, 21 November 1921 - 2 December 1921, no. 2
1923: Spolek vytvarnych umĕlců Mánes. 66. Vystava. Vystava francouzského umění XIX. a XX. Století/ Association des artistes Mánes. 66e exposition. Exposition de l'art français des XIXe et XXe siècles, Maison municipale, Prague, 0 May 1923 - 0 June 1923, no. 287
1924: Exposition Maurice Denis, Galerie Druet, Paris, 11 April 1924 - 11 May 1924
1981: Maurice Denis, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1 September 1981 - 18 October 1981, cat. no. 76
1983: Modern Nude Paintings: 1880-1980, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 7 October 1983 - 4 December 1983
1989: , Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum, 15 April 1989 - 14 May 1989, p.33, col. repr.
1989: Peintures françaises de Millet à Braque, Murauchi Art Museum, 25 July 1989 - 27 August 1989, cat. no. 53, col. repr.
1996: 国民の祝日『海の日』制定記念展覧会「海」, Seiji Togo Memorial Yasuda Kasai Museum of Art, 29 June 1996 - 18 August 1996, cat. no. 42, repr. color.
2017: [Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017] Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: From the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, 22 April 2017 - 2 July 2017, Akita Museum of Modern Art, 15 July-18 September, cat. no. 52
2023: 国立西洋美術館, The National Museum of Western Art, 18 March 2023 - 11 June 2023, cat. no. 89
2024: Does the Future Sleep Here?: Revisiting the Museum's Response to Contemporary Art after 65 Years, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 12 March 2024 - 12 May 2024

Bibliography

1924: Gillet, Louis. A propos de l'exposition Maurice Denis. Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 66e année, 5e période, t. 10 (juillet-décembre), 750e livraison, septembre-octobre 1924, pp. 197-212, p. 209, repr.
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-94.
1979: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 83, 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. 118, repr.
1989: Peintures françaises: de Millet a Braque (exh. cat.). Murauchi Art Museum, ed. Hachioji, Murauchi Art Museum, 1989, cat. no. 53, col. repr.
1989: Inshoha to Kindai Nihon no Kaiga Ten: Hikari to Shikisai no Roman (exh. cat.). Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum. Nagano, Nagano Prefectural Shinano Art Museum, 1989, pp. 33, 146, col. repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 544.
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.29, cat. no. 19, col. repr
1996: Tenrankai Umi: Uminohi Seitei Kinen (exh. cat.). Nakamura, Takao; Kojima, Kaoru. [Tokyo], NHK Promotions. 1996, cat. no. 42, col. repr.
1997: Boullion, Jean-Paul. Le Denis des plages. Lumières de sable: Plages de Maurice Denis (exh cat.). Delannoy, Agnès, ed. Musée départemental Maurice-Denis "Le Prieuré," Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 28 June-18 September 1997. Paris, Somogy, 1997, p. 30, repr.
2017: Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017 (exh. cat.). Nakada, Asuka, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2017, pp. 80, 140, cat. no. 52, 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. 381, col. repr.
2023: La Bretagne source d'inspiration: regards de peintres français et japonais (exh. cat.). Hakamata, Hiroyo, ed. Tokyo, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television, 2023, pp. 123, 210, cat. no. 89, col. repr.

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