(15) Bathroom Art

 

The fixtures of a bathroom has inspired quite a few painters ( six-bathrooms-from-famous-paintings ) and this was so for TOM WESSELMANN who painted "Bathtub 3" in 1963 (top card) and another American painter, STUART DAVIS, who painted "Odol" in 1924 already (he was born 40 years before Wesselmann). Now Odol was a mouthwash my grandparents already used, and I googled its origin which was 1892, the year Davis was born. Only Odol was a German product, but came to the US in 1912. I got the card as a reminder of my good childhood visits at my grandparents. I think they put their dentures with  drops of Odol into a glass similar to the one on Davis' painting, and it was sitting in front of a mirror, too.  While Odol is hanging in The Cincinnati Art Museum,  Bathtub3 was given to the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.  It is actually huge:  213 by 270 cm, and it is in fact a collage using different materials for shower curtain, bathmat etc. The woman in the tub with tiles is painted in oil. Odol on the other hand is only 62x44cm, also done oil.  I just generally love Wesselmann and Davis paintings, so there isn't much else to say. Now get cleaned.

More of bathroom art in post 11