Imagine a time when there was no weekend, and people worked six days a week with only one day off for religious rituals. Well, at the turn of the century when the Industrial Revolution was most prominent, the working-class began to have two days off from working at big machinery, power plants.
In mid-nineteenth-century France, this meant that people had time to travel and spend the day relaxing, swimming, and even partake in some shameless flirting. A popular place for people who lived near Paris to spend their weekends was a boating and bathing resort on the Seine River known as La Grenouillère. The resort also drew the attention of Impressionists painters Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir who preferred to paint modern scenes with modern people.
While the idea of the weekend was becoming widely popular and accepted in the Western world, the paintings of Monet and Renoir were not. Critics felt that their impressionist style was too far from the norm—during this time art was taught by the academy which was in connection with biggest art exhibit known as the Salon—to be accepted by the public. Another thing that worked against their paintings at La Grenouillère was the portrayal of people in their bathing suits Depicting figures in their bathing suits was huge taboo since it had long been established that figures who were undisclosed were to be heroic male figures.
However, when viewing La Grenouillère (the painting) by Monet and Renoir it is really hard to notice because the bathing suits of the nineteenth-century were much more conservative than that of today. In decades to follow bathing suits began to cover less of the body (most noticeably for women), and artistic depictions of the bathing suits changed from something satirical and mocking to sexy and encouraging.
La Grenouillère, Claude Monet, 1869. Oil on canvas. 29.100.112, Met.
In the center of La Grenouillère by Claude Monet, there is a circular dock known as a Le Camembert, this is where people would go into the water to swim. People would enter Le Camembert in their bathing suits, however, it is hard to see that in the painting because the males figures were painted in the water and the bathing suits for females in the mid-nineteenth century were long gowns that covered most of the female body. The ideal woman of this time was to have white porcelain skin, which could not sacrifice one day in the pool.
If a person of today saw a nineteenth-century woman swimming in her bathing suit, he would assume that she fell in the water on accident.
A forbidden swimming pleasure, from ‘The bathers,’ published in Le Petit Journal pour Rire, Honore Daumier, August 6, 1864. Lithograph on newsprint. 62.650.379, Met.
In this print, there is a wet male figure dripping and running shamefully and another swimming figure with a sour disposition, while a police figure watches the two with a township in the background. Even though the weekends were becoming popular, swimming publicly was still not okay culturally. Places like La Grenouillère were very attractive to people of all classes (mainly working) because they were less public and more secluded. This encouraged much flirting, which pushed for more tension against this type of environment not being a place for an established and reformed person. Thus, the figures being forced seemingly to leave the water.
Bathing at Long Branch "Oh, Ain't It Cold," Winslow Homer, (August 26, 1871). Wood engraving prints. 30.75.3(1), Met.
In a Bathing at Long Branch "Oh, Ain't It Cold," there are three women dressed in common bathing suits of the 1800s. Towards the back right of the print, there are two figures completely submerged in water. The bathing suits have long sleeves and indicate that the lower torso of the dress goes far into the water. Most of their body is covered, per custom, except their hands and face. The figures appear to be having an enjoyable time regardless of the amount of clothes they had to wear to go swimming.
Publicity card for La Grenouillère, with the hours of the trains from Paris, (1880). Commercial Lithograph. Met.
This publicity card for La Grenouillère introduces two major things to the portrayal of the female bathing suit: a new style and more sexualized figures. The female figures are no longer wearing long gowns, instead, the female bathing suit is one solid garment that covers the whole upper-torso minus sleeves and shorts for the legs. The bathing suit as a whole is very tight fitting and close to the body of the figure; making it very easy for the illustrator to sexualize the bathing suit. The breasts and the rear of the female figures have been exaggerated.
Swimming, from the Pretty Athletes series (N196) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co., 1889. Commercial Lithograph. 63.350.216.196.8, Met.
This print is composed of a female figure wearing a newer style bathing suit for the nineteenth-century. Her bathing suit is a two-piece featuring a low-cut short sleeve top, which meets the pants at the waist goes down the leg just above the knee. The woman is illustrated very curvily and the picture has a promiscuous theme to it. This encouraged the idea that the culture was turning from its purist view which looked down on public swimming to viewing it as an acceptable act with kept fairly private.
Beckwith, "The Swimming..." from the Actresses, Celebrities, and Children series (N151) issued by Duke Sons & Co., (1888). Albumen photograph. Burdick 212, N151.17, Met
This photograph captures a very new style of bathing suit for the female. The outfit shows a lot more leg and the shoulders and hips have fluffy fabric decorated around them. This photograph was part of a series of images that would found inside of cigarettes boxes as collector’s item. Patrons would buy cigarettes in an attempt to collect cards similar to these. This was one of the first instances in using a promiscuous form of modeling to attract male patrons.
Swimming, from the Games and Sports series (N165) for Old Judge Cigarettes issued by Goodwin & Company, (1889). Commercial color lithograph. 63.350.214.165.46, Met.
This image shows five female figures in collage form with one figure not in the same reference as the others. The figures are wearing tight-fitting, two-piece bathing suits with the lower torso pants stretching down to the knee. One of the figures has a bathing suit that is tight all around, while another is wearing a top that is rather flowy at the bottom. None of the figures have exaggerated features, or show their midsections, however, this type of picture was found in a cigarette cartridge sold as a collector’s item.
Bath, from the Beautiful Bathers series (N192), Julius Bien., (1889). Commercial color lithograph. 63.350.216.192.1, Met.
Bath is an illustration by Julius Bien, was part of a collection that would be found in a cigarette cartridge which features a figure that refers back to the viewer. The figure is looking out to the audience calling for attention. The woman has an hourglass figure and is wearing a bathing suit which looks like a black leotard and polka-dotted pants that stretch to the knee and water shoes. This drawing appears to be referring to her sexuality, even pointing to it with the attention towards her crotch.
Actress at Pool (W423), (1920-40s). Commercial color photolithograph. 63.350.618.423.100, Met.
This woman in the photograph is wearing a new style bathing suit. In the early twentieth century, the leg portion of the bathing suit was now commonly shorter than it was the decades before it and the back part of the upper torso was much more revealing with either a low cut or lacy decor. The model’s pose, in the image, is much more promiscuous than what was seen in the late-1800s. This particular image attracted purchase of patrons in arcades for it was sold in vending machines as a postcard.
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