The Red Bathing Suit
ClassificationsPaintings-watercolors
Artist
Arthur Edwaine Beaumont
(English-born American, 1890-1978)
Date1948
MediumWatercolor on paper
Dimensions16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Framed: 25 1/4 × 27 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (64.1 × 69.9 × 4.4 cm)
Framed: 25 1/4 × 27 1/2 × 1 3/4 in. (64.1 × 69.9 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Dreibelbis
Object number97.144
DescriptionAccording to Geoffrey Beaumont, the son of artist, this painting depicts a scene on Bikini Atoll, where the Bikini bomb tests were conducted, in 1946. Beaumont was an official artist for the Navy, so many of his paintings show dramatic views of warships at sea, but this one is a distinct departure from his usual subjects. Purportedly, the woman in the red bikini was the only nurse on the island without a standard issue gray bathing suit, so naturally she stood out among the others. Beaumont was said to convince her to roll it up, and in doing so may have invented the bikini bathing suit. The painting was signed much later in the artist's life at the family's request, so is dated incorrectly; this is also why the ink is in another color.On View
Not on viewCollections
