The subject of a woman at her toilette has been a preoccupation of artists from Titian to Degas. In The Bathroom (1932) we see Marthe stooped over, powdering herself with what looks like the crescent-shaped edge of a puff that peeks out from behind her right thigh. The tub on the left is slow to register because of its exaggerated wide lip and the peculiar angle of its leg. More difficult to understand, though, is what the colors of the painting denote. Are the markings of white underneath the stool meant to represent an accumulation of powder upon the floor tiles, or could this spillage of white paint, dripping from the stool to floor, be reflected light, or is it a reflection of the white of the stool? Whether powder or reflection, Bonnard has given it solid form. The color of floor tiles mutates from green and blue diamond patterns underneath the tub into orange and blue tiles to the right of Marthe. Mirroring the change in floor tiles, the larger rectangular grayish-white wall tiles above the table at the left of the painting change to vibrant violet with pink edging on the right. Despite the obvious deception of these shifts, our eyes willingly accept the changes as reflections and light. ©1998 The Museum of Modern Art, New York