Large Bathers

The monumental composition Large Bathers was conceived by Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906) and translated into a print by the distinguished lithographer Auguste Clot (French, 1858-1936) between 1896 and 1898. This sophisticated print is a color lithograph enhanced with precise hand-coloring applied to cream wove paper, illustrating Cézanne's complex engagement with graphic arts toward the close of the 19th century.

The subject of bathers, integrating nude figures with the surrounding natural environment, was essential to Cézanne’s late career. It functioned as a primary vehicle for his investigations into structure, geometry, and spatial depth. Cézanne moved beyond the optical effects of Impressionism, using the human form and the landscape to build a formalized, rigorously organized composition that laid the foundation for Post-Impressionism.

The collaboration with Clot, a renowned Parisian printer, allowed Cézanne to disseminate these complex compositional ideas to a wider audience through fine art prints. This process, developed in France, combined the mechanics of lithography with individual artistic intervention via hand-coloring, ensuring that each impression retained a unique painterly quality. Considered one of the most important prints of the period, this work is a seminal example of French culture at the fin-de-siècle and anticipates the formal innovations that would define early 20th-century modern art. This significant piece resides in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.