Bathers 1877

Paul Cézanne painted 'Bathers' with oil on canvas sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. It’s a small piece, only 14 by 19 centimetres, depicting nude figures in a landscape. Cézanne, working in France, was trying to break from the established art institutions and the conservative norms of his time. The Impressionists, with whom he exhibited, rejected academic traditions, embracing modern life and new ways of seeing. Instead of historical or mythological scenes, they painted everyday subjects and landscapes. Cézanne took this further by emphasizing the underlying structure of what he saw, reducing forms to their basic geometric shapes. In 'Bathers,' the figures are simplified, almost abstract, existing within a dense pattern of brushstrokes. This wasn't just about representing a scene; it was about exploring the very nature of perception and representation. To fully understand Cézanne, we need to consider the art world he was challenging, studying the institutions that shaped artistic taste and his place within them.