Bathers

The influential post-impressionist work, Bathers, was created by Paul Cézanne French, 1839-1906, in 1897. Classified as a sophisticated print, this piece utilizes the demanding process of color lithography, executed with nuanced tonality on delicate ivory China paper and subsequently laid down onto an ivory wove card support. This medium allowed Cézanne to explore the reproducibility of his central theme while still focusing on the complex interplay of saturated color and structured form, distinguishing this effort from his oil paintings on the same subject.

The subject of figures immersed in nature, specifically bathers, was a formal preoccupation for the artist throughout his career in France. Unlike the casual, momentary depictions favored by earlier Impressionists, Cézanne (1839-1906) structures the human body and the surrounding environment into geometric, interlocking planes. The arrangement of the monumental figures, shown in various states of repose or interaction, serves less as a conventional narrative and more as a formal mechanism for exploring volume, depth, and the fundamental relationships within pictorial space. The sharp linearity evident in these late prints emphasizes the block-like construction of the forms, directly foreshadowing the innovations of Cubism.

Created late in the 19th century, Bathers exemplifies Cézanne’s profound transition toward modern structuralism. The creation and widespread circulation of such significant prints allowed the master to disseminate his revolutionary aesthetic ideas widely across the continent. This particular impression is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, providing scholars and the public crucial access to his printmaking process. The enduring legacy of this work, now frequently available through public domain archives, ensures Cézanne's innovative approach to art continues to be studied globally.