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English Seaside Resort 1938 OC3810 Costume Woman in brown strapped maillot. Woman in purple bandeau and nombril. Woman in orange bra and culotte Man barechested with knee-length shorts. TL. TML. N-1. Bellage. TML. TMLC. N-1. Actions Osmund Caine's painting of an English seaside resort depicts a range of dress from the fully covered to the navel-bearing (1), as over a dozen sungoers discuss the day and preen for each other among the rocks in front of their changing cabanas. Commentary Newsweek reports that when art dealer Grenville Jennings purchases this painting, in 1996, that a controversy erupts over the invention of the bikini, with the British claiming an origin eight years in advance of the French (LR4601). A week later a letter-writer to Newsweek politely points out the bikini's Roman roots (PAS300). The 81-year old painter weighs in, "I couldn't have a typical English resort setting at that time with nudes," Newsweek reports, "so I put on the skimpiest thing possible." Note that the navels of women who are wearing maillots appear as if their swimsuits are transparent. Source Osmund Caine, painter, "Bathing Beach," 1938, reproduced from "Periscope," Newsweek, c. 1996, specifically no picture credit. 1 picture. |
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