The Bathers (Cézanne)

Infobox Painting


image_size=230px
title=The Bathers
artist=Paul Cézanne
year=1898-1905
type=Oil-on-canvas
height=210.5
width=250.8
height_inch=82 7/8
width_inch =98 3/4
museum = Philadelphia Museum of Art
city = Philadelphia, United States

"The Bathers", "Les Grandes Baigneuses" in French, is a 20th century oil painting by French artist Paul Cézanne. The painting is the largest of a series of "Bather" paintings by Cézanne; the others are in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the National Gallery, London. [Citation |last=Brown |first=Mark |title=Cézanne, reclusive 19th century genius, gets recognition he craved a century on |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/feb/15/france.arts |publisher="The Guardian" |date=2006-02-15 |accessdate=2008-03-07] [Citation |last=Anderson |first=Porter |title=Review: MoMA reunites Cezanne and Pissarro |url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/06/28/moma.cezanne.pissarro/ |publisher="CNN" |date=2005-06-28 |accessdate=2008-03-07] Occasionally referred to as the "Big Bathers" or "Large Bathers" to distinguish it from the smaller works, the painting is considered one of the masterpieces of modern art, [Citation |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |title= ART VIEW;Cezanne, in All His Magnificent Mystery |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401EEDC1639F93AA35755C0A960958260 |publisher="New York Times" |date=1996-06-09 |accessdate=2008-03-07] and is often considered Cézanne's finest work. [Citation |last=Riding |first=Alan |title= Cezanne: The Hot New Artist of the 90's |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE7DA1738F937A15753C1A963958260 |publisher="New York Times" |date=1995-10-24 |accessdate=2008-03-07] The painting was purchased in 1937 for $110,000 with funds from a trust fund for the Philadelphia Museum of Art by their major benefactor Joseph E. Widener.Citation |last= |first= |title=A Cold Plunge |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840559,00.html |publisher="Time" |date=1965-02-12 |accessdate=2008-03-07] Citation |last= |first= |title=Cezanne, Cezanne |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,758463,00.html |publisher="Time" |date=1937-11-29 |accessdate=2008-03-06]

With each version of the "bathers", Cézanne moved away from the traditional presentation of paintings, intentionally creating works which would not appeal to the novice viewer.cite book |last=Walther |first=Ingo F. |authorlink= |title=Masterpieces Of Western Art: A History Of Art In 900 Individual Studies |publisher=Taschen |date=2002 |pages=512 |isbn=3822818259] He did this in order to avoid fleeting fads and give a timeless quality to his work, and in so doing paved the way for future artists to disregard current trends and paint pieces which would appeal equally to all generations. The abstract nude females present in "Large Bathers" give the painting tension and density. Using the same technique as employed in painting landscapes and still lifes, "Large Bathers" is reminiscent of the work of Titian and Peter Paul Rubens. [cite book |last=Bossy |first=Michel-Andre |authorlink= |title=Artists, Writers, and Musicians: An Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the World |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |date=2001 |pages=39 |isbn=1573561541] Comparisons are also often made with the other famous group of nude women of the same period, Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon". [Citation |last= |first= |title=Les Demoiselles D'Avignon: Picasso's influences in the creation of a masterwork |url=http://blogs.princeton.edu/wri152-3/f05/cargyros/les_demoiselles_davignon_picassos_influences_in_th.html |publisher= |date= |accessdate=2008-03-10] [cite book |last=Turner |first=Jane |authorlink= |title=Grove Dictionary of Art |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |date=1996 |pages=372 |isbn=1884446000]

The purchase of the painting, while generally praised, was nevertheless questioned by the "Philadelphia Record", which noted that 41,000 (or ten percent) of Philadelphia's residents were without bathtubs, and that the money could therefore have been better spent elsewhere. While Cézanne's drawing ability has always been criticized, a critic once said that he "made the ineptly drawn Bathers a warm evocation of leisurely summer bliss." [Citation |last= |first= |title="I Am a Timid Man |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,822079,00.html |publisher="Time" |date=1952-02-04 |accessdate=2008-03-07] The painting was featured in the BBC Two series "100 Great Paintings".

References

External links

* [http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/104464.html?mulR=4988 The Bathers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art]