Saturday Night Bath Artist: Horace Pippin (American, 1888–1946)

1945

American Paintings and Sculpture

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design


By the 1940s, untrained artists had begun to be embraced by the art world, while its tastemakers were simultaneously searching for art that embodied modernity and distinctly American qualities. This celebration of "Americanness," in part, prompted some influential New York galleries to represent African American artists, such as Horace Pippin. At the Downtown Gallery, the premier commercial venue for contemporary American art, Edith Halpert helped to shape a successful career for Pippin. In 1945, the artist contributed Saturday Night Bath to a critically acclaimed group show at the Downtown Gallery, which also featured Charles Sheeler, Georgia O’Keeffe, Stuart Davis, Ralston Crawford, Ben Shahn, and George L. K. Morris, among other famous figures of American modernism.

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

25 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (64.14 × 76.84 cm)

Credit Line

Purchased in honor of Helen A. Cooper, M.A. 1975, Ph.D. 1986, with gifts from Jerald Dillon Fessenden, B.A. 1960; Nancy and Holcombe Green, B.A. 1961, M.A. (HON.) 1999; Mary Jo and Ted Shen, B.A. 1966, M.A. (HON.) 2001; Barbara and John Robinson, L.G. 1975; Fleur E. Fairman, B.A. 1978; Evelyn H. and Robert W. Doran, B.A. 1955; Alice Kaplan; Mrs. Herbert Schaefer; Jean E. and Robert E. Steele, M.P.H. 1971, M.S. 1974, Ph.D. 1975; S. Roger Horchow, B.A. 1950, L.H.D.H. 1999; and Jan Mayer; and purchased with the Stephen Carlton Clark, B.A. 1903, Fund; Friends of American Arts Acquisition Fund; The Iola S. Haverstick Fund for American Art; and the Heinz Family Fund

Accession Number

2014.4.1

Geography

Made in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States

Culture

American

Period

20th century

Classification

Paintings

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
The artist; Robert Carlen Galleries, Philadelphia; Downtown Gallery, New York; Terry Dintenfass, art dealer, New York; Sid Deutsch, art dealer, New York; Private collection, Chicago. ***Note: In his 1947 biography on Pippin, Selden Rodman lists the playwright and director Clifford Odets, a friend of Robert Carlen, as the owner of Saturday Night Bath.
Bibliography
  • American Art: Selections from the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2023), 222–23, no. 105, ill
  • "Acquisitions 2014," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin: Online Supplement (accessed December 1, 2014),
  • Keely Orgeman, "Side by Side: Horace Pippin at Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2014), 36–41, fig. 1
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

genre (visual works), human figures (visual works)

Subject

African Americans bathing (hygienic activity) bathtubs boys chairs childhood children (people by age group) churches dogs (animals) hearths home houses interior spaces light mothers night poverty stoves tables (support furniture) water

Signed

Signed and dated lower right, H. Pippin 1945

Technical metadata and APIs

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