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Frank Weston Benson

The Bather

Maker

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951)

Title

The Bather

Year

1897

Medium

  • Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Oil on canvas

Materials

oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Dimensions

101.6 x 70.5 cm (40 x 27 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signature: Signed LL:F. W. Benson / 1897

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Isaac C. Bates

Object Number

97.001

Type

  • Paintings

Provenance

The artist.
Isaac Comstock Bates, by 1897.
Gift to the RISD Museum, 1897.

Publications

  • Books

Selection VII: American Painting from the Museum's Collection, c.1800-1930

Exhibition History

Joseph Lindon Smith and His Circle in Dublin, New Hampshire
Oct 14, 1998 – Mar 03, 1999

Label copy

The Bather demonstrates the rigorous French academic training that Benson received at the Academie Julian in Paris between 1883 and 1885. Although painting from a live model was a common practice in Parisian studios, only one other nude figure study by Benson survives. During these years, he shared a studio with Joseph Lindon Smith, a fellow student from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The two maintained a demanding work schedule and an active social life. Because a European education was considered by many to be a prerequisite for American artists of the late nineteenth century, the studios of Paris and resort towns of France teemed with American students. In the summer of 1884, Benson and Smith traveled to Concarneau in Brittany, the residence of many artists and writers. It was the first of several summers they spent together. Benson and his wife Ellen Perry Peirson made their first trip to Dublin in 1889 and returned there four of the following five years.

Nude Figure
Some Works from the Permanent Collection
Dec 20, 1996 – Apr 20, 1997
From the Reserve IV
Nineteenth-Century American Painting
Jul 22, 1994 – Oct 02, 1994
Following the Light
Impressionist Paintings by Frank Weston Benson
Sep 20, 1991 – Nov 10, 1991
Selection VII
American Paintings from the Museum's Collection, ca. 1800-1930
Mar 31, 1977 – May 08, 1977
  • More Exhibition History +

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Frank Weston Benson (American, 1862-1951)
The Bather, 1897
Oil on canvas
101.6 x 70.5 cm (40 x 27 3/4 inches)
Gift of Isaac C. Bates 97.001

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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