Paul Cézanne: Bathsheba 2

Public Domain Image: Bathsheba 2, oil painting on canvas painting by French artist and Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)

Paul Cézanne - The Bathers #4

PD Image: The Bathers #4 by Paul Cézanne, oil on canvas painting

French artist and Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) is credited for laying the foundations of the transition from the 19th century style of art to a radically different form. He experimented with different optical images an object can present to the viewer. Also he tried to view every object in geometrical shapes such as cylinders, spears, etc. His direct observations from nature were transferred to the canvas as bold, but small brush strokes using different lighting conditions and vibrant colors, often giving the impression of coarse, immature paintings. And, possibly as experimenting with such themes, he painted some themes repeatedly, but giving a fresh and energizing impression each time. For instance, his ‘bathers’ series of paintings are numerous, but they are never monotonous or boring, and each one of them gave a new meaning to his art.

Also Cezanne is credited as being a bridge between Impressionism and the early 20th century's Cubism, as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso would vouch for. Also, Cézanne's work and themes of geometric simplification and optical phenomena inspired emerging artists of the times such as Picasso, Juan Gris, Georges Braque and others making them experimenting with more complex and multiple views of the same subject, and even fracturing of form. And this artistic enquiry and experimentation contributed greatly to the evolution of modern art.

Paul Cezanne: The Large Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses)

PD Image: The Large Bathers (1898-1905), oil on canvas painting by French painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906); dimensions 210.5 cm x 250.8 cm (82 7/8 in x 98 3/4 in) located at Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, United States.

The Large Bathers (Deutsch: Die großen Badenden, Français: Les Grandes Baigneuses) is often considered the masterpiece of Paul Cézanne. First exhibited in 1906, this painting is the largest of a series of paintings with the same title ‘The Bathers’ by Cézanne. The others are in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the National Gallery, London.

This painting is generally referred to as ‘The Large Bathers’ to distinguish it from other paintings of Cezanne’s ‘Bathers’ series and it is considered one of the masterpieces of Modern Art. The painting was featured in ‘100 Great Paintings’ a television series created by Edwin Mullins for BBC Two in 1980.

Because of the technique employed in painting landscapes and still lives, The Large Bathers often compared to the works of Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.

The Bather by Paul Raphael Montford

PD Photo: The Bather (La Baigneuse) by Paul Raphael Montford (1868-1938), an English-born sculptor, who was active in Australia and a winner of the gold medal of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1934.

After the Bath (1910) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Image: After the Bath (1910), oil on canvas painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir currently located at Barnes Foundation, Lower Merion Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

The Barnes Foundation, an educational art institution founded in 1922 by Albert C. Barnes, has one of the largest collections of 181 works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. The foundation possesses more than 2500 art objects, including 800 paintings estimated to be worth about $25 billion. Apart from Renoir, it has 69 works by Paul Cézanne, and 59 by Henri Matisse, and works by many other masters including Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Francisco Goya, Vincent Van Gogh, Jean Hugo Giorgio de Chirico, El Greco, Edouard Manet, Amedeo Modigliani, Claude Monet, Maurice Utrillo, Maurice Prendergast, and numerous African artworks, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman art, American and European decorative arts and metal works.

Moorish Bath, painting by Gerome

Image: Moorish Bath, painting by French painter and sculptor Jean-Leon Gerome.

After the Bath by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Painting: After the Bath (1875) oil-on-canvas painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

The Bather (1970) by William Bouguereau

Painting: The Bather (1970) oil-on-canvas painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Bather by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

Painting: Bather (1870) by French academic painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau