''La Circassienne au Bain'', also known as ''Une Baigneuse'', was a large Neoclassical

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest ...

from 1814 by Merry-Joseph Blondel depicting a life-sized young Circassian woman bathing in an idealized setting from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. The painting was destroyed with the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in 1912. When financial compensation claims were filed with US commissioner Gilchrist in January 1913, the painting gained notoriety as the subject of the largest claim made against the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...

for the loss of a single item of baggage or cargo.

History

Louvre exhibition

The painting was first exhibited at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial ar ...

, at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the '' Venus de Milo''. A central ...

museum in November 1814. The initial critical reaction to the painting was muted, with positive descriptions restricted to praising the painting's overall competence and Blondel's attention to detail. Apart from technical misgivings about the twist of the upper body and the absence of 'grace' in the figure of the young woman, the chief concern of the critics seems to have been that, despite its large scale, it was not as exciting a painting as some of Blondel’s previous works. However, by 1823, critics began talking more enthusiastically about the painting, apparently influenced both by the favourable popular reception to printed reproductions of the painting and by Blondel’s improving career status.

Loss on the RMS ''Titanic''

In January 1913, a claim was filed in New York against the White Star Line, by ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unite ...

'' survivor Mauritz Håkan Björnström-Steffansson, for financial compensation resulting from the loss of the painting. The amount of the claim was $100,000 (equivalent to $2.6 million in 2020), making it by far the most highly valued single item of luggage or cargo lost as a result of the sinking. Bjornstrom-Steffansson did not receive the compensation he asked; all the cases against White Star were settled for a combined amount of $644,000.

Size of the painting

Steffansson's claim form described a substantial painting "8 x 4 feet" in size, but did not specify whether this referred to the painted canvas size, the canvas plus frame or the crate size.''District Court of the United States, Southern district of New York, Claim by H. Bjornstrom-Steffanson - Exhibit A'', 9 January 1913, US National Archives, New York. This format does not conform to the standard size conventions for full-length portraits, formalised during the 19th century. Neither does it match the format ratio of any known full-length portrait by Blondel. Extant full length, life-sized standing female portraits by Blondel, in the public domain, conform to the French standard ''F120'' (''figure 120'') sized canvas (), within a margin of plus or minus .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Circassienne au Bain 1814 paintings Neoclassical paintings RMS Titanic Lost paintings Nude art Bathing in art