Bathtime Painting

painting by P. Bonnard

Soaking in the tub is such a great way to catch up with myself. It is also the time to let go of myself. Inside the hot water, I love musing on how the bath has been effectively depicted in art history.

Since indoor plumbing of the early 19^th century, scenes of the solitary bath have been depicted by many artists. My favorites are by Bonnard (1867-1947). Somehow the artist has so melded with the model (his wife), that I don’t feel like an outsider gazing in. I get the perspective of the woman bathing. 

Oil Painting by Bonnard

I love Frida Kahlo's painting,What the Water Gave Me, 1938, where she looses herself in daydreams. 

What the water Gave Me, by Kahlo in 1938

Personally, as I keep soaking, I find myself feeling more like Ophelia by John E. Millais (painted in 1851)

Ophelia (not soaking, but drowned)