Who painted Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella?

Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella was painted by Alfred Grévin in 1860.

Where can I see Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella?

Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella?

Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella

Alfred Grévin , 1860

Male and Female Bathers with Umbrella is a gouache drawing by the Romanticist artist Alfred Grévin. It dates from 1860 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

About this work

Overview

Alfred Grévin’s 1860 drawing, executed in watercolor and gouache on a graphite‑prepared card, presents a brief, intimate scene of two partially submerged figures sheltered beneath an open umbrella. The composition captures a fleeting moment of movement in water, rendered with a light, sketch‑like touch.

Subject & Meaning

The work depicts a male and a female figure, each half‑immersed, holding an umbrella that hovers above the water’s surface. The woman on the right is shown with a pale complexion, dark hair pulled back, and a small yellow earring, while the man’s features are less defined. The juxtaposition of nudity and the protective umbrella suggests a dialogue between vulnerability and shelter.

Technique & Style

Grévin employed a combination of watercolor and gouache over an initial graphite sketch, allowing for both transparent washes and opaque highlights.

Grévin employed a combination of watercolor and gouache over an initial graphite sketch, allowing for both transparent washes and opaque highlights. Rapid, fluid brushstrokes convey the agitation of the water, while the umbrella’s fabric is rendered with softened edges, giving it a hazy, almost dreamlike quality. The overall approach is loose and spontaneous, characteristic of mid‑nineteenth‑century Romantic drawing.

History & Provenance

Created in 1860, the piece belongs to Grévin’s early oeuvre, a period when he explored genre scenes and figure studies. The drawing remains on card support, a common medium for studies and sketches of the era, and has been documented in several catalogues of Grévin’s work, though its ownership history after its creation is not extensively recorded.