The Large Bathers (Les grandes baigneuses)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

The bathers theme originated in the Renaissance and traditionally showed idealized female bodies in total harmony with nature. Yet Cézanne disturbs this easy relationship here and in his other works on the subject. In this canvas, thick with paint, space is hard to read, and the landscape —note the dead tree branches and ominous clouds—seems harsh and threatening. While he derived many of the figures' poses from classical statuary, Cézanne overturns tradition as soon as he references it: bodies are deliberately distorted, with obliterated faces, truncated limbs, and uneven flesh.

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