Description
The Large Bathers is an oil painting created by French artist Paul Cézanne between 1898 and 1905. In creating The Large Bathers, Cézanne was attempting to produce a piece that was timeless. The artist did not follow fashionable painting trends and did not feel pressure to conform to 19th century methods.
The work represents several nude women bathing in an idyllic landscape with trees and mountains in the background.
An interesting curiosity about this work is that, although it was very influential in the development of modern art, in its time it was the subject of controversy and criticism. In fact, the painting was rejected at the 1907 Paris Salon, causing outrage among Cézanne's followers.
Another curiosity is that the work is of great importance in the history of art due to its focus on geometry and shape, as well as its use of color and light. Cézanne worked on this painting for many years, making numerous studies and preliminary sketches to refine its composition. The work is said to have been one of the last and greatest paintings he made before his death in 1906.
An interesting feature of Cézanne's The Large Bathers is its innovative use of space in composition. Instead of depicting the women in a conventional arrangement, Cézanne arranged them in a complex, asymmetrical pattern that emphasizes depth and perspective in the painting.
In this work, Cézanne also explored the relationship between geometric shapes and nature, using abstract and angular shapes to represent human figures and natural elements in the composition. This focus on geometry and form significantly influenced the development of modern art and was one of the reasons why Cézanne is considered one of the forerunners of Cubism.
Today, The Bathers is in the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where it is considered one of the most outstanding works in the museum's collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art.
Las Grandes Bañistas is ranked no. 38 on the list of famous paintings