The art piece that really catches my attention in the Legion of Honor museum was the art piece done by the French artist Jean- Leon Gerome. The art piece is titled “The Bath”. The bath is beautifully painted on a canvas using oil paints. While looking at this painting, the first thing is notice is that the African American women is scrubbing the Caucasian women. In this tense it reminds me of the past when slavery was brought into our society. African Americans were brought from Africa to be used as slaves in America and were treated horrifically terrible. Gerome is really famous for his gorgeous nude paintings of women. He hasn't personally witnessed nude women but he sees the image in his head. “This work's theme is recurring one in Gerome’s oeuvre, was extremely popular among nineteenth-century Western viewers sensual Oriental baths in which beautiful nude women lounged and resected their body by pampering. Hygiene was very important also to the higher class.” (Legion of Honor)
The color scheme and the Arabic letters is also very important part of the art piece. The color blue on the walls brings out the fact that the women are in the shower. We wouldn't have known that they were in the shower
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Jean- Leon Gerome was one of those artists, he was awarded many medals and was recognized for his unique paintings of young women. Gerome also tried to improve his skills by painting the Cockfight in 1846 its an academic exercise in which depicts a nude young man and a lightly draped girl with two fighting cocks. The background is the Bay of Naples. After he had admired his paintings, he soon sent the paintings to the Salon of 1847, in which he won another medal. This time, it was a third-class medal. The piece was seen by the influential French critic Theophile Gautier. Gautier really thought his artwork was up to standard and thought it was a worthy piece of artwork. (Gerome