2024 Muswellbrook Art Prize

Napoleon's bath and other drawings

Michael Bell

Napoleon's bath and other drawings, 2023 ink, watercolour, gouache on archival paper 105 x 81 cm

These drawings were made in France in May and June in 2023.

Napoleon's bath - or laundry tub - is a real thing situated in Maussane-les Alpilles, in the south of France. I also made various drawings of Ancient Greek Funeral Urns in the Louvre Museum, Paris.

The connection between the drawings is they are historical objects that interest me. They show humanity dealing with common ritual. The objects I have drawn are about life and death.

The funerary urns commemorate and protect the dead. Napoleon's bath, as well as humorous does suggest a love of life - washing and bathing openly in the French landscape.

Most of these drawings were started on-site and completed in hotel rooms at night.