Lecture by Elisabeth Fritz as part of the conference “Aesthetic Languages of the Public Sphere: Paradigm Shifts and ‘Long Traditions’”, organized by Anna Schober and Philipp Zitzlsperger, at the Austrian Historical Institute in Rome from 21 January to 23 January 2026.

In early 18th-century French dictionaries, le public is defined not only in terms of civil society or open political assemblies, but also as an exposed area of common belonging where “everyone” can go to for their amusement and leisure. This paper discusses the idea of the public sphere as a sociable rather than political space, which is nevertheless an arena where social positions and gender differences, regimes of looking and perceiving, and forms of participation and exclusion are negotiated. To what extent can an association of “the public” with a realm of frivolous activity be understood within theories of the political? Has the concept of a “non-political”, yet public space or action changed from the modern era to the present day? And how are these discourses related to theories and practices of creating and experiencing works of art? To address these questions, I will analyse representations of public bathing in the visual arts dating from the 18th to the 21st century. Drawing on examples ranging from the “realism” of fêtes galantes paintings to images of modern life in Post-Impressionist and avant-garde art, up to contemporary performance-installation, the paper will explore various iconographies and aesthetics of outdoor bathing. In doing so, particular attention will be paid to the implicit political dimensions of the motif of “objectless” sociable action within the public sphere.