William Malherbe, La Baigneuse (Painting)

William Malherbe (French, 1884 – 1955)

La Baigneuse

Oil on canvas

51 x 35.1/2 in. (130 x 90 cm.)

William Malherbe was a French Impressionist painter born in 1884. His success came in the 1930’s exhibiting at the gallery Durand Ruel, the famous Paris gallery who’s fortune had been made by backing the Impressionists. Fleeing the Nazi’s in 1939 he immigrated to New York city exhibiting at the Corcoram Gallery in Washington DC. Here he was highly sort after and some of the examples shown come from this period. He later returned to France in 1948 and passed away in 1955. His works are in the collection of the Musee d’Art Moderne in Paris amongst others. These particular examples may well have been in the family collection as a very large tranche of his work came up for auction recently. And each were of a particular high standard, not associated with previous offerings at auction. He may well have withheld works, and taken them from New York on his return to his homeland for his own collection.