William Mulready
, Irish, 1786-1863
Title
Bathers SurprisedDate1852-1853
MediumOil on wood panel
Dimensions
59 x 44 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1911
Object numberNGI.611
DescriptionA group of young women are depicted nude, bathing from the rocky banks of a stream. Behind, a woman, holding a child in her arms, calls out urgently that someone is coming. The two women behind her appear to clutch each other alarm. One of the naked figures has already begun to rise from her prone position on the rocks, while another springs from the water, her long hair streaming behind her as she does so. Their dramatic response suggests that it is a male stranger who is about to invade their privacy. Yet the foreground figure seems unperturbed by the news. Her gaze is unfixed and she absent-mindedly fingers her hair. This accomplished study of the nude as seen from several angles is a logical development of Mulready's superb academic drawings, which were greatly admired by Queen Victoria. He had trained at the Royal Academy in London but continued to take life-drawing classes until late in his career. His depiction of the nude links him to the traditions of Western European art - to the antique and the Italian School. The foreground figure owes a debt to Titian's Venus Anadyomene and the study of figures in different poses to Michelangelo's Bathers cartoon.
(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
ProvenanceThomas Baring; Agnew, by 1878; E.C. Potter; Christie's, 22 March 1884, E.C. Potter sale, lot 38; bought Agnew; Octavianus E. Coope, by 1899; Christie's, 6 May 1910, Octavianus E. Coope sale, lot 24; Sir Hugh Lane; purchased, Sir Hugh Lane, 1911Exhibition HistoryExposistion Universelle, Paris, 1855
Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, Manchester, 1857
International Exhibition, London, 1862
A Catalogue of the Pictures, Drawings, Sketches etc. of the late William Mulready, Esq., Science and Art Department, South Kensington Museum, London, 1864
Manchester Art Treasures, Manchester, 1878
Loan Collection of Pictures and Drawings by J.M.W. Turner and a Selection of Pictures by some of his Contemporaries, Guildhall, 1899
Works by Irish Painters, Guildhall, London, 1904
William Mulready, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1964
Bicentenary Exhibition 1768-1968, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1968
Aspects of Irish Art, a Loan Exhibition; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, 27 January - 3 March 1974; Toledo Museum of Arts, Toledo, Ohio, 17 March - 14 April 1974; St Louis Art Museum, St Louis, Missouri, 3 May - 9 June 1974
Peinture Britannique: de Gainsborough a Bacon, Galerie des Beaux Arts, Bordeaux, 1977
William Mulready: 1786-1863, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1 July - 12 October 1986; National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin; Ulster Museum, Belfast, Autumn/Winter 1986-1987
Exposed: The Victorian Nude, Tate Britain, London, 1 November 2001 - 27 January 2002; Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1 March - 2 June 2002; Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York, 6 September 2002 - 5 January 2003
Pre-Raphaelites: A Modern Renaissance, Musei di San Domenico, Forli, 23 February 2024 - 30 June 2024
Finished work:/Preparatory work:
