Edward Henry Potthast

(1857-1927)

The Bathing Hour 16 x 20in (40.6 x 50.8cm)

Footnotes

Provenance
The Bentley Galleries, Cleveland, Ohio.
Noël K. Hubbs, Marshalls Creek, Pennsylvania.
Estate of the above, 2009.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, great-nephew of the above, January 2017.

Edward Henry Potthast's The Bathing Hour is a superb example of both the artist's mastery of Impressionist style and his affection for the subject of Americans enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the shore. Each of his many paintings of sunny beach scenes filled with sparkling surf and tender details of colorful umbrellas, balloons, and figures in sunhats, reveal Potthast's inventiveness and varied approach to the subject. The beaches that he typically chose to paint were those along the Northeastern coast not far from his home of New York City. Though Potthast began painting various scenes of America's beaches at the turn of the twentieth century, it wasn't until around 1914, when he already had a very accomplished career, that the beach officially became recognized as his favorite subject of choice.

Potthast's favorite subject was considered a modern one. His attraction to the beach started only a few decades after the rush to develop America's shores with seaside resorts and clubs began. The industrial revolution changed the way many Americans lived in the 19th century, transforming the nation from an agrarian to an urban-centered society. To add to this changing landscape, waves of immigrants, including Potthast's family, fled economic hardships and political instability in Europe for a new start in a country bustling with growing economic opportunities. By the latter part of the 19th century, American workdays became shorter for many working-class Americans thanks to an influx of labor laws and the growth of unions that policed unhealthy working conditions. At the same time, those living in urban America began to concern themselves about the unhealthy and stressful conditions that cities and factories created. This gave rise to the park movement and new social athletic trends, as well as a new demand for outlets to escape the crowds and anxieties of the city. Entrepreneurs and investors capitalized on this growing demand by developing new entertainment businesses and by finding ways to expand the tourism industry. With the growing development of beach resorts along America's shores coupled with improvements in coastal transportation, America's urban populations flocked to the beach in the summers to escape the heat and pollution.

As the beach grew in popularity as a social space for rest and relaxation, the artistic response to it began to grow as well. The development of oceanfront resorts and clubs in the late-19th century coincided with the growing movement of Impressionism. The subject of America's beach resorts was ideal, as the genre often celebrated the mundane and leisurely bourgeois experiences of modern life. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century when Impressionism became a dominant style among American artists and the beach and coastal countryside began to catch the attention of Potthast, along with other artists like William Merritt Chase (1849-1916), William Glackens (1870-1938), and Maurice Prendergast (1858-1924). While the growing popularity and natural environment of the beach itself would have inspired Potthast, the 1909 exhibition of paintings by Spanish artist Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) in New York at the Hispanic Society of America most likely inspired him as well. Sorolla's works were considered sensational among his contemporaries and the exhibition at the Hispanic Society was the first of its kind to provide the viewing public with such a large concentration of his work. Potthast would have seen the possibilities that the beach as a subject could afford him through this exhibition of Sorolla's work and would have most likely found inspiration in Sorolla's paint handling, vibrant colors, and in the way he arranged his compositions.

Beginning around 1910, Potthast joined the excursionists in the summer to the public beaches. He often chose Rockaway Beach and Far Rockaway on the south side of Long Island, as well as Brooklyn locales easily accessible by rail—Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Coney Island. The present work is unique, as Potthast rarely includes identifying landmarks, such as boardwalks, bathhouses, or resort hotels that provide distinctive clues about the locations of his paintings. In The Bathing Hour, Potthast depicts a large house on the rocky cliffs, the glimmering shoreline, unposed figures in colorful bathing suits, the soft rolling of the waves, and a cloudy sky above. The poses of his figures appear casual and Potthast has composed the painting to appear as an immediate snapshot rather than a staged depiction. Potthast's focus on the relationship between colors was paramount in his works and is beautifully demonstrated in the present work. The warm reds, yellows, and bright whites of the bathing suits and caps of the bathers against the cooler blues, teals, grays and greens of the water and cliffs creates a compelling and alluring balance of color. The present work is a blended focus on adults and children that make up a full crowd of beach-goers. There is great detail and depth in the composition from the soft sandy shore of the foreground, to the layers of receding figures, rocky cliffs, and the large house that culminate at the horizon. The Bathing Hour stands among Potthast's most charming compositions that offers pure and pleasant views of the beach in American Impressionism.