Dimensions: unconfirmed: 1803 x 1664 mm
Copyright: © Estate of Vanessa Bell, courtesy Henrietta Garnett | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Editor: Here we have Vanessa Bell's "The Tub," a large, arresting canvas currently residing at the Tate. I'm struck by its quiet domesticity, yet the female figure introduces a slightly unsettling intimacy. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It hums with the ordinary, doesn't it? But Bell's vision, drenched in Bloomsbury ethos, transforms the mundane. It's a celebration of the body and everyday life, imbued with a contemplative, almost spiritual light. Do you feel that? Editor: I think so... the light is quite ethereal, yes. Curator: It reminds me of quiet mornings, secrets whispered between sunlight and water. An invitation to find beauty in the stillness, perhaps. It's a reminder that life's poetry often lies in the simplest acts. Editor: I never thought of it that way. Now I see a deeper story within its simplicity. Curator: And isn't that the magic of art? It whispers, and we learn to listen.
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tate about 2 months ago
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In October 1916 Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant and the writer David Garnett moved into Charleston Farmhouse, on the South Downs in Sussex. This unusually large painting was intended for the garden room of the new house. It was never installed, and the artist kept it folded up. It was only rediscovered with the revival of enthusiasm for the art of Bloomsbury in the 1970s. Bathers were painted by many of the French painters Bell admired, including Cézanne, Degas and Matisse. Originally the figure was partially clothed; there is a photograph of an earlier version of the painting in the display case in this room. Gallery label, September 2004
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