Duncan Grant

Bathing

1911

In Tate Britain

Historic and Modern British Art: Modern Times: 1910–1920

Artist: Duncan Grant 1885–1978
Medium: Oil paint on canvas
Dimensions: Support: 2286 × 3061 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1931
Reference: N04567

Online caption

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.

Catalogue entry

N04567 BATHING 1911

Not inscribed.
Casein or wax medium on canvas, 90×120 1/2 (229×306).
Purchased from the Borough Polytechnic (Clarke Fund) 1931.
Exh: Mural Decorative Paintings, Whitechapel Art Gallery, May–June 1935 (105).

See Adeney, N04568, and N04566.

Published in:
Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, London 1964, I