Diana at the Bath

Like many 1920s figure painters, Lorser Feitelson attempted to interpret the ideal, or perfected, human form in a distinctly modern way. In this mythological subject, he based the exuberantly contoured figures and complex, dance-like composition on the elongated figures and virtuoso compositions of sixteenth-century Italian Mannerism and its nineteenth-century French heir, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Working in Paris, Feitelson no doubt was aware that Pablo Picasso had already moved in this direction, creating beautifully outlined figures inspired by classical sculpture and Renaissance painting. Although this work’s chalky, fresco-like colors also refer to Renaissance art, the figures are lithe, athletic, and unmistakably modern.