Badende

About this artwork

Es handelt sich wahrscheinlich um die Skulptur, die im Lesezimmer der 14. Ausstellung der Wiener Secession ausgestellt war und aus der Ausstellung von einem Wiener Sammler erworben wurde. Die Wiener Sonn- und Montags-Zeitung (5.5.1902, S. 6) schreibt, dass beide im Lesezimmer ausgestellten Arbeiten von Minne ("Jüngling" und "Badendes Mädchen") in die Hände von hiesigen Kunstliebhabern übergingen, und zwar in Marmor. Da der Katalog der Ausstellung diese Nummern als Gipsplastiken anführt, ist davo...

Art Historical Context

George Minne’s “Badende” (Bather) is a delicate marble statuette that captures a quiet moment of intimacy and reflection. Designed in 1899 and carved around 1902, small sculpture—measuring 40 × 27 × 19 cm—was likely one of two works by Minne shown in the reading room of the 14th Vienna Secession exhibition. Contemporary reports note that both pieces, originally modeled in plaster for the show, were later executed in marble for Viennese collectors, a common practice that allowed artists to meet demand while preserving the originals. The work’s journey through notable collections underscores it...

About the Artist

George Minne · 1866–1941

George Minne (1866-1941) was a Belgian sculptor whose introspective, spiritually charged works bridge Naturalism, Symbolism, and early Expressionism, making him a pivotal figure in the transition from nineteenth-century academic sculpture to modernist approaches. Born in Ghent as Georgius Joannes Leonardus Minne, he became famous for his idealized depictions of humanity's inner spiritual conflicts...