Famous work · not an exact-location map point
September Morn
A young woman bathing in the shallows of Lake Annecy at dawn — a mild Salon nude that became a censorship scandal in New York.
No single real-world viewpoint
An academic nude standing in shallow water; the lakeside setting is a generic studio backdrop, not an identifiable place.
September Morn — at a glance
- Artist
- Paul Émile Chabas (1869–1937)
- Year
- c. 1910–1912
- Movement
- French Academic art
- Place
- Lake Annecy (Lac d'Annecy), Haute-Savoie, France
- Viewpoint
- A posed figure studied on the alpine lake — the lake is real and famous; not a marked spot
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- c. 163 × 216 cm
- Now at
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Overview
September Morn is a painting by the French academic artist Paul Émile Chabas, finished about 1912. It shows a slender young woman standing in shallow lake water in the cool light of early morning, hunched slightly, arms drawn across her body against the chill, hills and a still lake behind her. It is oil on canvas, about 163 by 216 cm, and it hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
A modest medal-winner at the Paris Salon, it became notorious in 1913 when a New York art dealer's window display of a reproduction led to a public morality complaint; the resulting free publicity made the image hugely popular in the United States.
Where was September Morn painted?
Scholarship Chabas painted his bather pictures at Lake Annecy (Lac d'Annecy), a clear alpine lake in Haute-Savoie in eastern France, working from a boat over several summers; the model posed on shore and the setting was studied on the lake. The lake, ringed by mountains, is real and famous for its clarity and is a major tourist destination today. The painting is a studio composition of a posed figure in that landscape rather than a record of a marked spot.
What is in the painting?
The girl stands almost in the centre, ankle- to shin-deep in pale green water, her weight on one leg, shoulders rounded and forearms crossed low, face turned down. Ripples spread from her legs. Behind her the flat lake stretches to wooded slopes and higher hills, all in soft, cool morning light and mist; the palette is muted greens, greys and pale flesh tones.
Look closely
The shivering pose
Shoulders rounded, forearms crossed low, face down — the chill of early morning that names the picture.
The ripples
Rings spread out from the girl's legs across the still, pale-green water.
The misty lake and hills
A flat lake stretching back to wooded slopes and mountains in soft, cool light — Lake Annecy.
Analysis
Composition and technique
A single pale figure centred in a wide, misty expanse of lake and mountain, painted with soft academic finish.
Scholarship Chabas isolates the figure against an empty sweep of water and hills, the low viewpoint putting the horizon near her waist. The modelling is smooth and the light diffuse; the ‘shivering’ pose — arms crossed, shoulders up — is what gives the picture its title and its air of chilly early morning.
History & provenance
After its American notoriety the painting passed through several owners and was given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 1957.
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York — collection entry for Paul Émile Chabas, ‘September Morn (Matinée de septembre)’ (c. 1912; oil on canvas)
- Metropolitan Museum of Art — account of the 1913 New York controversy
