Women Bathing 1919

Hippolyte Petitjean made this painting, Women Bathing, with oil on canvas, and it now lives in a private collection. Can you imagine the patience of the artist making this? All those little dabs of paint, one after another, to create the forms of these women, the trees, the water. I wonder what Petitjean was thinking about while he worked. Was he looking at a real landscape, or was he inventing a dream of nature, a paradise for women to be free and at ease? The colours are soft and glowing, like a summer day. The blue of the woman’s drape is so vibrant, it draws your eye in, and then you notice the way the light hits her skin, making it shimmer. It reminds me a little of Seurat, but with a more intimate and sensual touch. Painting is really about conversations between artists through time, and between you and the artist, too. What does this painting say to you?