Félix Vallotton's "Le Bain au soir d'été" at Kunsthaus Zürich: A Symbolist Precursor

Félix Vallotton's "Le Bain au soir d'été," an oil on canvas painted between 1892 and 1893, is held at the Kunsthaus Zürich. The Swiss artist, who lived from 1865 to 1925, was also a printmaker deeply interested in Renaissance art. The painting adopts the iconographic theme of the fountain of youth but updates it with the contemporary fashion for bathing. It depicts groups of women arranged on different planes: some are in the water, others are about to enter. The women in the water—nude or dressed in white garments—are reflected, creating a visual play that makes the viewer believe the reflections are part of the bodies or separate entities. In the upper section, the lawn and figures help clarify planes, proportions, and perspective, though the overall impression is one of unsettling yet calming two-dimensionality. The work was exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, where it caused a stir. It was particularly admired by Henri Rousseau and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The article is part of a series on summer in art, which also includes works by Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, Vincent van Gogh, Berthe Morisot, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jean Frédéric Bazille, Frank Weston Benson, and James Ensor.