Bathers (Baigneurs)
1902–1904
Oil on canvas
24 × 27.5 cm (9.4 × 10.8 in)
SEE IT IN PERSON
● On view now — Collection Gallery, Room 06, East Wall
Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia · verified July 2026
Discussion
FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG
A group of nude figures gathers around a pool in a forest. The theme of bathers in nature originated in the Renaissance, traditionally showing idealized female bodies in harmony with the landscape. Yet Cézanne disturbs this easy relationship in this small canvas. Space is hard to read. And while he derived many of the figures' poses from classical statuary, their bodies are obscure—most are androgynous and/or engulfed in the foliage.
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