The Bathing Hour by Edward Alfred Cucuel

Edward Alfred Cucuel
1875-1954 | American 

The Bathing Hour by Edward Alfred Cucuel

Signed 'Cucuel' (lower right)
Inscribed, signed and dated "The Bathing Hour" Cucuel 1923 (en verso)
Oil on canvas 

Edward Alfred Cucuel’s captivating oil on canvas titled The Bathing Hour portrays an elegant woman in white, seated gracefully in a rowboat, as another woman in a bathing suit gently pushes the boat toward a serene shoreline. The composition unfolds beneath the verdant canopy of leaves and bright blue sky, reflecting Cucuel’s masterful command of light and color. Known for his vibrant palette and textured impasto, Cucuel brings a dynamic vitality to his scenes, capturing women in moments of leisurely reverie against sun-dappled landscapes. This painting is a quintessential example of Cucuel’s aesthetic, a true celebration of idyllic beauty and radiant color.

Cucuel's paintings are among the finest of all the American Impressionists. Born in San Francisco, he began his formal art training at age fourteen when he enrolled at the city's School of Design. In 1892 he moved to Paris and became a student of renowned Academic painter Jean-Léon Gérôme at the École des Beaux-Arts. Over the next three decades, Cucuel devoted himself to his painting, working in France, Italy and Germany.

In 1907, Cucuel established a studio in Munich and joined the Scholle group of artists led by Leo Putz, an important German Impressionist painter and one of the pioneers of Expressionism. It was during this crucial period that Cucuel began to develop his own Impressionist style that would inform his work for decades to come. He began exhibiting in Paris, where he became a member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, and in 1915 he was awarded a silver medal at the San Francisco International Exposition. Around the same time, the artist purchased a home in Holzhausen, Germany, overlooking the Bavarian lake where he summered with his family. It is here that he perfected his distinct style and his favorite subject—charming plein air scenes of female figures in gardens and at green shorelines. Today, the artist’s works reside in the permanent collections of museums such as the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead, England, and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.

Dated 1923

Canvas: 32 1/2” high x 34 7/8” wide (82.55 x 88.58 cm)
Frame: 44 3/4 " high x 47 1/4" wide x 3 1/2" deep (113.67 x 120.02 x 8.89 cm)

Literature:
F. von Ostini, Der Maler Edward Cucuel, Zurich, 1924, p. 71, illustrated, as A Summer Day

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany, circa 1930
By descent to their heirs
Private Collection, Indianapolis
M.S. Rau, New Orleans