William Etty (British, 1787–1849) Musidora: The Bather 'At the Doubtful Breeze Alarmed'

Provenance: Phillips, London, sale of July 20, 1993, lot 26 (sold as The Bather).

Christie's, South Kensington, sale of March 12, 1998, lot 182 (sold as Musidora).

Christie's, South Kensington, sale of June 8, 2000, lot 252 (sold as Musidora - The Bather - At the Doubtful Breeze Alarmed).

Acquired directly from the above sale.

The Forbes Collection.

NOTE:

Between 1843 and 1846, William Etty produced four different canvases of the same subject, showing Musidora bathing in a stream. The present work is believed to be the first or fourth version, while the second and the third are now at the Tate Britain and the Manchester Art Gallery, respectively. The theme was inspired to Etty by James Thompson's poem "Summer" as published in The Seasons and in which he described a young lady, Musidora, caught by surprise by a young man, Damon, as she bathes in the river. Conflicted between his own sexual curiosity and the moral code that begs him to leave, the man in fact cannot turn away his gaze. Exhibited with much success during Etty's lifetime and long considered amongst his best works, Musidora eventually became unpopular, as the iconography was soon replaced by another, more alluring topic favored by the Pre-Raphaelites, Lady Godiva. At the time Musidora was executed, the nude was a difficult theme to tackle, and Etty suffered from many critics for his ultra-realistic, unflattering depictions of the female body. Here on the contrary, Musidora being a literary theme, the representation of the nude body felt appropriate, and entirely respectable. In the present painting, Etty chose not to represent Damon. In doing so, he places the viewer in the position of the voyeur and forces us to reflect on our reaction - a common attitude among artists in Victorian England: should we appreciate Etty's talent by contemplating the female figure, or should we shily turn our head away?

The present painting was part of The Forbes Collection at Old Battersea House, London from the 1970s to 2010.