Bathing
- Artist: Duncan Grant
- Date: 1911
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 2286 x 3061 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Bathing” by Duncan Grant, painted in the summer of 1911. It was created as part of a decorative scheme for the dining room at the Borough Polytechnic in London, under the theme “London on Holiday.” Grant imagined an idealised panorama of seven male nudes bathing, a scene that actually shows the continuous movement of a single figure through the water, from a dive to an emerging splash.
The composition draws on Michelangelo’s male nudes and the carefree summers Grant spent at the Serpentine in Hyde Park—a place long associated with London’s gay culture. The painting’s fluid lines and loose brushwork give it a sense of motion that feels almost theatrical, like a stage set where the bodies play out a silent drama. At the time, “Bathing” was seen as controversial because of its homoerotic implications; it challenged conventional ideas about the body and leisure in a very public space.
Grant sold the piece to the Borough Polytechnic in 1931, and it has since found its way into a prominent collection. When you look at the canvas, pay attention to how Grant layers the figures, creating a sense of depth that invites you to step into the scene and imagine yourself among the water and the sunlit waves.
See it in person
Bathing is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
