Healthy bodies enjoying bathing in pastoral scenery full of sunshine, or a private scene of a closed room with a relaxed body in a bathtub… Whether outdoor waterside of rivers, lakes and seashore, or indoor bathrooms, there are many artworks showing bathing people. Indeed, bathing was a traditional subject of European art derived from Greek myths and Biblical stories. While maintaining the stereotype of presenting the naked body of a woman seen while bathing, the motif underwent changes of its significance in and after the nineteenth century as modern society and art evolved.
Stories unfolding from the contact between the body and water may conceal not just sensual desire for the naked body, but also radical themes connected to the relationship between humans and nature, or to life and death. Taking a broader view to put contemporary art in perspective, this exhibition aims to re-examine the rich variations of bathing motifs and their present-day significance through 51 pieces from our collection.

Shinkai Taketaro Bathing 1907