Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–5 public

Bathers

A work made of etching on ivory laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of etching on ivory laid paper.

Date:

c. 1799

Artist:

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, the elder
German, 1759-1835

About this artwork

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe was a late bloomer, taking art classes at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin in his 30s. Unusually, this self-taught etcher did not produce any paintings. Instead he focused on his many idiosyncratic prints of lushly detailed landscapes with mythological overtones. This large sheet includes his signature majestic oak trees and patches of aggressively overgrown foliage, a herd of cows, and a pair of nude men who may come from a different era than the travelers in the background. Kolbe became a member of the Berlin Academy in 1795, and published several print portfolios brimming with idyllic imagery.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, the elder

Title

Bathers

Place

Germany (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Printed 1795–1805

Medium

Etching on ivory laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 50.7 × 42.6 cm (20 × 16 13/16 in.); Plate: 55.8 × 45.5 cm (22 × 17 15/16 in.); Sheet: 62.2 × 51.9 cm (24 1/2 × 20 7/16 in.)

Credit Line

Everett D. Graff Fund

Reference Number

1969.389

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/31959/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share