Bathhouse Zinaida Serebryakova (1884-1967)

Description of the painting "Bath" by Zinaida Serebryakova

Zinaida Evgenievna Serebryakova, née Lancere, was born into the family of a famous Russian sculptor. For a long time her family’s estate was the center of artistic life in St. Petersburg. Her aptitude for painting manifested itself to the girl when she was still a student in a female gymnasium, and she later continued her education at an art school, and on getting married she went to France, where she honed her skills at painting portraits.

The painting "Bath" was painted by the artist in 1913. For the painting she created dozens of sketches, many of which are still kept in the storerooms of museums. The monumental style which was used by the artist in her earlier works and which revealed itself with a particular tension and purity can be seen on the canvas. Golden tones are used to paint the painting, emphasizing the tanned, sculptural and plastic characteristic of a woman’s body.

A large part of the canvas is occupied by naked female bodies. The women are not in the least bit embarrassed by their nudity; they perform the quite usual and even routine process of ablution. There is nothing mysterious or forbidden about it, but there is something attractive.

Following Venetsianov’s tradition, the artist does not seek to hide natural flaws, but does not emphasize them either. With her inherent love for painting portraits, she pays particular attention to every feature of the female body. The perfection of the details presented was appreciated by foreign and Russian critics. In 1913 the painting "The Bath" became part of the "World of Art" exhibition.

Many critics believed that neither before nor after Serebryakova was there any artist in Russian painting who could so naturally and simply convey the beauty of the female figure. The painting is devoid of any vulgarity, it conveys life and female beauty the way nature created it.