Drawing a Bath: The Motif of Bathing in Czech and European Modern Art

The theme of bathing in art from the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century combined an interest in the traditional motif of the female or male nude with a new focus on the body, its hygiene, and recreation, which became a part of modern life. The Graphic Arts Cabinet will show how this theme developed among modern painters depicting bathing in the intimacy of the home (Edgar Degas, Félix Vallotton, Pierre Bonnard) or out in the open air? (Auguste Renoir, František Kupka, Tavík František Šimon), and how it gave rise to experiments in Expressionism (Walther Klemm, Max Pechstein) or Cubism (Paul Cézanne, Václav Špála).

Curator: Petra Kolářová

Venue: 4th floor of the Trade Fair Palace a a part of the exhibition 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century

Featured artwork: František Kupka, Bathing Women, around 1905–1909, charcoal, watercolor, paper, 229 × 285 mm