Impressionism
Homework 1 October 2, 2012

La Grande Baigneuse Analysis La Grande Baigneuse, or also known as The Valpinçon Bather, is a permanent oil on the canvas painting located on second floor of the Louvre museum. Painted by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres in 1808, La Grande Baigneuse captures the artist’s veneration for the female body with tight, smooth brushwork to capture the realism of the model’s skin. The work is specifically situated in Salle 60- Ingres in between relatively smaller Ingres’ Charles Cordier and Edme Bouchet portraits, which were both completed in 1811. The same model depicted in La Grande Baigneuse can also be found right across the room in Ingres’s Le Bain Turc, also known as The Turkish Bath. The brightness of the room was all controlled by artificial light rather than some natural sunlight from outside, such as the case with the neoclassical room. Furthermore, although the model in the piece is unidentifiable because her back is turned towards the viewer, she clearly just finished taking a bath. In order for the viewer to appreciate the sensuality of Ingres’ female bather, the viewer must understand the palette, view and lighting, 3-D effects, composition, subject and style of this genre painting. The palette utilized for the work exemplifies female sexuality through the cool colors in the room. The cool pristine local color of white on her gives the impression of a soft, supple skin. In addition, adding white to the pure hue on the bather’s body creates an illusion of delicate, smooth light reflecting off of her skin. The tone is lighter starting from the head and gradually gets darker past the torso into her feet. Along with cool tones, the red sandals and red designs on her turban compliment the murky green metallic drapes and light green floor. Noticeably, the left side of the painting has strong dark tones contrasting the immaculate white curtain and linens on the right half. The shadowy tones near drapes and underneath the bed give the painting depth while balancing with the white tint on the curtains and linens. The room has a sense of a heavenly equilibrium with an aesthetically pleasing aurora due the dark and light tints opposing on the canvas. Besides understanding the palette, the view and lighting are key attributes that exert the bather’s sensuality to the viewer. The perspective of the viewer is her backside as if the she does not know anyone is looking at her. Instead of sitting fully on the bed, she is sitting on the edge near the drapes almost giving the viewer the notion that she has no idea that she is being admired. The source of light is coming from the top left of the canvas radiating on the bather’s left shoulder. Interestingly enough, she does not have a shadow on the sheen linens. The viewer may not be able to see the face, but her flawless skin modeled through intricate brushstrokes exemplifies the body of a woman that dominates most of the composition. View and lighting demonstrate the brilliance of objects including the bather, but harmony in the painting has a direct relationship with Ingres’ ability to capture the weightlessness of the bather through 3-D effects. Although the bather is sitting, the viewer’s expectation of gravity is suppressed as she is drying herself on the bed. Ingres is able to display verisimilitude of the bed and drapes through the use of shadows to add volume. The drapes seem thick and heavy as they hang besides the bather because of its smooth, transitional values moving gently from a light tint to dark. The same chiaroscuro can be found on the bathers uniform skin that intensifies the grandeur of her body and the linens. Essentially, the chiaroscuro on the bather, curtains, drapes and bed create a Trompe-L’oeil, thus leading the viewer believe the painting is three-dimensional. Signs of notan are apparent in the gloomy shadows of the drapes, but cool colors dominate the room. Furthermore, the surface texture of the linens appears as fragile and consistent with the bather’s skin with similar tight, precise brushstrokes. Besides 3-D effects helping turn the canvas into a realistic like creation, the composition to the viewer is also important to note. The bather is not cropped at any point so the viewer has the full scale of her backside. The bed and most edges of the room are cropped, but still the bather dominates as the center figure of the work. The middle ground contains her red sandals. Although there is no horizon, the background contains curtains that are in front of the bather and a faucet where she most likely took her bath. . The drapes in the painting also are parallel to the shapely shoulders of the bather. Furthermore, the turn of the bather’s neck and torso are emphasized by the fall of the metallic green drapes, as well as, the folds in the linen on her bed. In addition, there is a golden section that meets just underneath where she sits on the bed as well. The subject of the Ingres’ work clearly reinforces the appeal towards female sexuality through the depiction of a woman drying herself after bathing. Essentially, La Grande Baigneuse is a genre painting as mentioned in the introduction because bathing is an activity of every day life. Typically, a woman is shown from the front, but Ingres hides the bather’s sexual characteristics to avoid scrutiny on her body and making her seem like an untouchable, chaste female figure. The harmonized, tight brushwork on her body serves as the rhythm between her, her white sheets and curtains since they are all pure white representing the divine cleanliness the bather embodies. The faucet in the background can be symbolic of not only a bath, but also a baptism, which is a ritual to cleanse the soul of sins and to be reborn again. She is not only washing herself for hygienic purposes, but also to possibly cleanse her soul. The bed and the curtain act as a shield to the dark drapes on the left side of the painting almost as if the smooth enamel surfaces are protecting the bather from the desires of men of the outside world. Ingres deprives the viewer an opportunity to appreciate her body, but rather creates a sensual being that the viewer comes to respect. The viewer has to utilize imagination for what the bather could look like but the delicate, flawless skin already renders an image of a beautiful figure. Since the women looks chaste, she is more than just an object for sexual gratification, but an outlet for admiration to manifest in the gaze of the viewer. The viewer acts as a curious looker, peeking into the room as the bather is drying her body as to not disturb the calm, tranquil atmosphere that the bather emits. The style of La Grande Baigneuse does not conform to how women are normally represented on a canvas. Ingres denies the right to view the bather’s sexual features, thus forcing the viewer to marvel at the act of her drying herself. The work can easily be described as neoclassical with certain techniques that Ingres utilizes. Neoclassical paintings typically utilize cool colors with mostly reserved emotions on human figures and sharp outlines. Although the viewer cannot see the face of the bather, the viewer can articulate that she is simply drying herself in a faultless manner. As mentioned before, the cool colors on the bather illuminate the calm, pure nature that she embodies. The painting is not a romantic piece simply because the bather is not expressing any dramatic emotions and she was not painted with intense colors. In conclusion, Ingres’ La Grande Baigneuse displays appreciation for the female body and symbolizes the nature of female sensuality. I fell in love with this composition the more I gazed into it at the Louvre museum. The sound of the teacher explaining the beauty of the piece became drowned out when I became flabbergasted at how soft the bather’s skin appeared with Ingres’ tight brushwork. The more I tried to imagine what the sexual features of the bather looked like the more I realized that I was basically staring through a keyhole into the room. The dark tint of the drapes made me want to tell the bather to stay on the bed, so that her beauty would remain preserved from men. The delicate light beaming on the surface of her left shoulder made me feel like I was watching a goddess after a bath. I also found myself impressed with how the drapes ran parallel to the shoulder of the bather. The shadows on the drapes and underneath the bed made me feel like it was sinister, thus creating tension for what the bather began to represent for me. The idea of admiration for the supple skin and soft curves of a female began to manifest in my thought process and I no longer saw the bather as a women, but as an angel figure sent for man to respect. I maintain that Ingres has created a masterpiece with La Grande Baigneuse since he captures the viewer’s curiosity by painting the women with her back turned. She looks untouchable and the viewer is left as a bystander wondering about her emotions. I find this similar to when I am trying to figure out the emotions of the females in my life, such as my mom after an argument. Sometimes my mother will sit reserved, thus confusing me when I attempt to read her. I returned to the painting even after the tour to wonder what the bather was thinking about. Man will never understand women, except appreciate their beauty and Ingres’s composition has solidified this statement for more so than ever.
La Grande Baigneuse (1808)