Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Estate of the artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Helen Hyde
(American, 1868–1919)
The Bath
1905
Color woodcut on cream Japanese gampi paper
Block: 16 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (41.3 x 26.0 cm)
Sheet: 19 3/8 x 11 1/4 in. (49.2 x 28.6 cm)
Mat: 24 x 18 in. (61.0 x 45.7 cm)
Sheet: 19 3/8 x 11 1/4 in. (49.2 x 28.6 cm)
Mat: 24 x 18 in. (61.0 x 45.7 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.24
SignedIn graphite, lower right: Helen Hyde; in block, lower left: HH (monogram); in block, upper right in brown ink: Copyright, 1905, by Helen Hyde
InterpretationHelen Hyde's woodcut print The Bath provides an intimate glimpse of a Japanese mother carefully lowering her naked infant into a wooden bathtub partially obscured by a screen placed for warmth or privacy. The woman is dressed in a kimono protected by an apron and her hair is arranged in an elaborate traditional style. Her garment's elegant maple-leaf pattern echoes the graceful shadow cast by a plant on the paper-covered screen that provides a fluid barrier between interior and exterior in a traditional Japanese home. The mother's kneeling posture suggests a descending series of contrasting diagonals that continues into the discarded cloth on the floor in the foreground, setting up a subtle contrast to the rectilinear effect of the gridded backdrop and the screen surrounding the tub.
Along with Moon Bridge at Kameido (TF 1996.25), Moonlight on the Viga Canal (TF 1996.26), and The Sauce-Pan Shop (TF 1996.27), The Bath is one of numerous woodcut prints showing scenes of daily life in Japan that Hyde made during her long residence there. A dedicated student of traditional Japanese woodcut prints, Hyde emulated their compositions and subject matter as well as technique. This print's focus on a daily routine of childcare and Hyde's evocation of the tender bond between a mother and child also pay tribute to similar images by Mary Cassatt, notably her color intaglio print The Bath (TF 1994.4), which Hyde saw exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Hyde exhibited The Bath among other prints she made in Japan at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
Along with Moon Bridge at Kameido (TF 1996.25), Moonlight on the Viga Canal (TF 1996.26), and The Sauce-Pan Shop (TF 1996.27), The Bath is one of numerous woodcut prints showing scenes of daily life in Japan that Hyde made during her long residence there. A dedicated student of traditional Japanese woodcut prints, Hyde emulated their compositions and subject matter as well as technique. This print's focus on a daily routine of childcare and Hyde's evocation of the tender bond between a mother and child also pay tribute to similar images by Mary Cassatt, notably her color intaglio print The Bath (TF 1994.4), which Hyde saw exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Hyde exhibited The Bath among other prints she made in Japan at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
Estate of the artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
Domestic Bliss: Family Life in America, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 12–June 22, 1997.
Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi (organizer). Venues: Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi, February 19–July 17, 2011; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, October 5, 2011–January 15, 2012. [exh. cat.] (exhibited in Mississippi only)
Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.
(Re)Presenting Women, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 16, 2001–January 13, 2002.
The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi (organizer). Venues: Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, Mississippi, February 19–July 17, 2011; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas, October 5, 2011–January 15, 2012. [exh. cat.] (exhibited in Mississippi only)
Mason, Tim and Lynn Mason. Helen Hyde. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991. No. 59, p. 108; ill. back cover.
Weisberg, Gabriel P. et al. The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918. (exh. cat., Mississippi Museum of Art). Jackson, Mississippi: Mississippi Museum of Art, 2011. Text p. 46, cat. no. 108, p. 178 (checklist); ill. fig. 120, pp. 106 (detail), 112 (color).
Weisberg, Gabriel P. et al. The Orient Expressed: Japan's Influence on Western Art, 1854–1918. (exh. cat., Mississippi Museum of Art). Jackson, Mississippi: Mississippi Museum of Art, 2011. Text p. 46, cat. no. 108, p. 178 (checklist); ill. fig. 120, pp. 106 (detail), 112 (color).