Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/duncan-grant-1203" aria-label="More by Duncan Grant" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Duncan Grant</a>
Bathing
Purchased 1931
adults
bathing / swimming
boat - non-specific
diving
emotions, concepts and ideas
eroticism
formal qualities
leisure and pastimes
male
man
movement
nudes
people
recreational activities
sea
seascapes and coasts
sex and relationships
society
transport: water
wave
<p>This was painted in the summer of 1911 as part of a decorative scheme for the dining room at the Borough Polytechnic, London. The theme was ‘London on Holiday’, and Grant responded by painting this idealised panorama of seven male nudes bathing. The nudes also represented the continuous movement of a single figure. Grant’s design was inspired by Michelangelo’s male nudes and summers spent at the Serpentine in Hyde Park, which was a site associated with London’s gay culture. <span>Bathing</span> was seen as controversial at the time it was painted, due to its homoerotic implications.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2019</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
15 September 2007 – 31 March 2009
2009-03-31
15 September 2007 – 31 March 2009
2009-03-31
2007-09-15
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2007-09-15
Bathers
Collection based display
3 July 2009 – 18 November 2010
2010-11-18
3 July 2009 – 18 November 2010
2010-11-18
2009-07-03
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2009-07-03
The Bloomsbury Group
Collection based display
16 April 2011 – 9 October 2011
2011-10-09
16 April 2011 – 9 October 2011
2011-10-09
2011-04-16
Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (Brighton, UK)
http://www.brighton.virtualmuseum.info
2011-04-16
Radical Bloomsbury: Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant
Loan-out
30 November 2012 – 25 September 2022
2022-09-25
30 November 2012
2012-11-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-11-30
Gallery 3
Collection based display
5 April 2017 – 1 October 2017
2017-10-01
5 April 2017 – 1 October 2017
2017-10-01
2017-04-05
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2017-04-05
Queer British Art
Exhibition
31 October 2022
31 October 2022
2022-10-31
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2022-10-31
Gallery 4
Collection based display
Bathing
support: 2286 × 3061 mm
Purchased 1931
<div class="text">
<p>Duncan Grant painted this in the summer of 1911 as part of the decoration for the dining room at the Borough Polytechnic, London. Based on the theme ‘London on Holiday’, he represents the continuous movements of male figures bathing, from diving into the water to emerging onto the shaky boat. Grant’s design was inspired by Michelangelo’s male nudes and summers spent at the Serpentine in Hyde Park, which was a site associated with London’s gay culture. The painting was seen as controversial at the time due to its homoerotic implications.</p>
</div>

Online caption
2023-12-01T00:00:00
online-caption
ONLINE_CAPTION
<p><b>N04567</b> BATHING 1911
<br/> 
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Casein or wax medium on canvas, 90×120 1/2 (229×306).
<br/>Purchased from the Borough Polytechnic (Clarke Fund) 1931.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> <i>Mural Decorative Paintings</i>, Whitechapel Art Gallery, May–June 1935 (105).</p>
<p>See Adeney, <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/adeney-toy-sailing-boats-the-round-pond-n04568" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04568</span></a>, and <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/grant-football-n04566" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04566</span></a>.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-20T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults bathing / swimming boat - non-specific diving emotions, concepts and ideas eroticism formal qualities leisure and pastimes male man movement nudes people recreational activities sea seascapes and coasts sex and relationships society transport: water wave