
Read the visual description
This painting depicts four unclothed people in various poses within a lush, natural environment. The people have tan skin and shoulder-length dark hair. Two on the right appear to be women, but one on the left has their back to us, and another in the center is sitting on the ground, their knee raised and covering much of their torso. The people aren't drawn with clear facial features; instead, small dark dots show their eyes, with no detail beyond that. The background shows a dense forest or garden with green, brown, and hints of red brushstrokes indicating leaves, trees, and grass. In the background, a blue shape could indicate water nearby.
National Gallery of Art · Painting
Bathers
Otto Mueller
- Date
- 1916/1917
- Medium
- distemper on burlap
- Dimensions
- overall: 120.7 x 95.3 cm (47 1/2 x 37 1/2 in.)
- Classification
- Painting
- Accession number
- 2020.112.3
- Credit line
- Collection of Arnold and Joan Saltzman
- Time span
- 1901 to 1925
- Department
- CMC
Subjects and terms
- painted surface
- German
- figure
- Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Paintings
- German Expressionist
- Nude figure
Provenance
Arnold A. [1916-2014] and Joan R. [1919-2019] Saltzman, Sands Point, New York; gift 2020 to NGA.
NGA object ID 121097. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.