Arcadópolis
Nudity. This work is shown blurred, as in the Museum.Show work
The Large Bathers
Paul Cézanne, 1898–1905
What you see
More than a dozen nude female figures gather in two groups, on the left and right, along a riverbank. Some sit, others bend or recline. Between the groups, a gap opens toward the water, where one figure swims, and beyond it, on the far bank, two small figures and a church tower can be seen. Tall trunks rise from both sides.
Blues, ochres and pinkish tones dominate, and the bodies have strong blue outlines. In several areas the paint is thin and lets the pale canvas show through. Watch for the head of the swimmer at the center, and for the white cloth on the ground in the foreground, toward which two bathers reach.
About Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne lived mostly in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, and painted with endless patience: sometimes an apple took so long to paint that it rotted. He built his pictures with brushstrokes like small bricks of colour. Picasso called him “the father of us all”.
More by Paul Cézanne
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