Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) by Paul Cézanne

Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) by Paul Cézanne is a reinterpreting of a historical tradition of painting nude figures in the landscape by famous artists such as Titian and Poussin.

Historically artists took inspiration from classical myths. Cézanne, however, was not depicting a mythological story. He was more concerned with the harmony of the figures to the landscape.

When this painting was exhibited in 1907, it became an inspiration for Picasso, Matisse, and other artists who were exploring and developing new art movements.

‘Bathers’ is reminiscent of earlier artists’ works, and comparisons can be made with more modern pieces such as Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

This painting is part of a series of Bather paintings created by Cézanne towards the end of his life.

With each successive version of the Bathers, Cézanne moved further away from the traditional presentation of paintings, intentionally creating works for an audience interested in new forms of art.

He wanted to pave the way for future artists to disregard current trends, and he focused on painting pieces that give a timeless quality to his work.

The abstract nude forms are in symmetry to the triangular and rounded patterns of the trees reminiscent of paintings of landscapes and still lifes. Cézanne claimed,

“I want to make of Impressionism an art as solid as that of the museums.”

Paul Cézanne was a Post-Impressionist painter who laid the foundations in the transition from the 19th-century Impressionism to the 20th century’s Cubism.

Both Matisse and Picasso have remarked that Cézanne “is the father of us all.” Cézanne’s art is characterized by repetitive, exploratory small brushstrokes that build up to form complex color fields, demonstrating his intense study of his subjects.

Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)

• Title:                Bathers
• French:            Les Grandes Baigneuses
• Artist:              Paul Cézanne
• Year:                1894-1905
• Medium:         Oil on canvas
• Dimensions    H: 127 cm (50 in); W: 196 cm (77.1 in)
• Museum:        The National Gallery, London

Paul Cézanne

• Name:            Paul Cézanne
• Born:              1839 – Aix-en-Provence, France
• Died:              1906 (aged 67) – Aix-en-Provence, France
• Nationality:    French
• Movement:    Post-Impressionism
• Notable works:
  • The Card Players (Barnes Foundation)
  • The Card Players (Courtauld Gallery)
  • The Card Players (MET)
  • Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory
  • Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress
  • Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair
  • Bathers (The National Gallery, London)
  • The Large Bathers (Philadelphia Museum of Art)
  • Bathers by Paul Cézanne (Art Institute of Chicago)
  • Bathers by Paul Cézanne (Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC)
  • “Leda and the Swan” by Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne: ‘Bathers’ | Paintings | The National Gallery, London

A Tour of the National Gallery

13th Century Paintings

• “The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Narrative Scenes” by Margarito d’Arezzo – 1264
• “The Virgin and Child” by Master of the Clarisse – 1268
• “Crucifix” by Master of Saint Francis – 1270

14th Century Paintings

• Wilton Diptych – 1395
• “The Annunciation” by Duccio – 1311
• “The Healing of the Man Born Blind” by Duccio – 1311

15th Century Paintings

• “Arnolfini Portrait” by Jan van Eyck –  1434
• “The Battle of San Romano” by Paolo Uccello– 1440
• “Venus and Mars” by Sandro Botticelli – 1483
• “Portrait of Doge Leonardo Loredan” by Giovanni Bellini– 1501

16th Century Paintings

• “Mystic Nativity” by Sandro Botticelli – 1550
• “Virgin of the Rocks” by Leonardo da Vinci – 1506
• “The Madonna of the Pinks” by Raphael – 1507
• “The Raising of Lazarus” by Sebastiano del Piombo– 1519
• “Salvator Mundi” by Andrea Previtali – 1519
• “Bacchus and Ariadne” by Titian – 1523
• “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein the Younger – 1533
• “Mary Magdalene” by Girolamo Savoldo – 1540
• “Saint George and the Dragon” by Tintoretto – 1558
• “The Family of Darius before Alexander” by Paolo Veronese – 1567
• “Diana and Actaeon” by Titian – 1569
• “The Rape of Europa” by Paolo Veronese – 1570
• “The Death of Actaeon” by Titian – 1575
• “The Origin of the Milky Way” by Tintoretto – 1575

17th Century Paintings

• “Supper at Emmaus” by Caravaggio – 1601
• “Samson and Delilah” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1610
• “Christ in the House of Martha and Mary” by Diego Velázquez – 1618
• “The Judgement of Paris” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1635
• “Aurora abducting Cephalus” by Peter Paul Rubens – 1637
• “Equestrian Portrait of Charles I” by Anthony van Dyck – 1638
• “Venus at her Mirror” by Diego Velázquez – 1651
• “The Courtyard of a House in Delft” by Pieter de Hooch – 1658
• “Self Portrait at the Age of 63” by Rembrandt – 1669
• “A Young Woman standing at a Virginal” by Johannes Vermeer – 1670

18th Century Paintings

• “Bacchus and Ariadne” by Sebastiano Ricci – 1713
• “A Regatta on the Grand Canal” by Canaletto – 1740
• “Mr. and Mrs. Andrews” by Thomas Gainsborough – 1749
• “Eton College” by Canaletto – 1754
• “An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump” by Joseph Wright of Derby – 1768
• “Self-portrait in a Straw Hat” by Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun – 1782

19th Century Paintings

• “Portrait of Doña Isabel de Porcel” by Francisco Goya – 1805
• “The Emperor Napoleon I” by Horace Vernet – 1815
• “Dido Building Carthage” by J. M. W. Turner – 1815
• “Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows” by John Constable – 1831
• “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” by Paul Delaroche – 1833
• “The Fighting Temeraire” by Joseph Mallord William Turner – 1839
• “Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway” by J. M. W. Turner – 1844
• “Cimabue’s Celebrated Madonna is carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence” by Frederic Leighton – 1855
• “Madame Moitessier” by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres– 1856
• “The Gare St-Lazare” by Claude Monet – 1877
• “Bathers at Asnières” by Georges Seurat – 1884
• “Sunflowers” by Vincent van Gogh – 1888
• “Tiger in a Tropical Storm” by Henri Rousseau – 1891
• “After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself” by Edgar Degas – 1895
• “Boulevard Montmartre at Night” by Camille Pissarro – 1898

20th Century Paintings

• “Misia Sert” by Pierre-Auguste Renoir –  1904
• “Portrait of Hermine Gallia” by Gustav Klimt – 1904
• Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) by  Paul Cézanne – 1905
• “Men of the Docks” by George Bellows –  1912
• “Water-Lilies” by Claude Monet (National Gallery, London) – 1916

Explore The National Gallery

• The National Gallery
• Masterpieces of The National Gallery
• The National Gallery, London – Crossword Puzzles

Paul Cézanne: The father of modern art | National Gallery

Paul Cezanne at National Gallery London England

Cézanne: ‘The Father of Modern Art’

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“The most seductive thing about art is the personality of the artist himself.”
– Paul Cézanne

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Photo Credit: Paul Cézanne [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons