Two Women Bathing (Les deux baigneuses)

Two Women Bathing (Les deux baigneuses) is an etching created by Camille Pissarro in 1895. This French print exemplifies the artist's sustained dedication to graphic arts late in his career, fitting squarely into the important period of 1876 to 1900. Unlike his major Impressionist oil paintings, this work highlights Pissarro’s technical skill in utilizing the intaglio process. The choice of etching as a medium allowed the artist to experiment intimately with line and tone, offering a starker contrast and a more focused viewpoint than his traditional outdoor studies.

The subject matter centers on two female figures engaged in the intimate act of bathing, a theme frequently explored by late nineteenth-century artists interested in pastoral life and everyday domestic rituals. The composition shows two women in a natural setting, perhaps by a stream or pond. One figure sits in the foreground while the other stands partially obscured nearby, suggesting an immediate, unposed moment captured by Pissarro’s focused attention on human activity. Though the artist is primarily associated with the vibrancy of Impressionism, this piece, like many of his prints, demonstrates a more controlled, almost classical approach to composition. Pissarro skillfully utilizes dense cross-hatching and etched lines to define shadow and volume, lending the figures a quiet solidity often absent in his quick, plein-air oil sketches.

Prints were crucial to Pissarro’s artistic output, providing both an opportunity for private experimentation and a means of making his art more widely accessible. This specific impression is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, recognizing its significance among the master’s graphic works. As this important piece of French cultural heritage falls outside modern copyright, high-resolution reproductions of this Two Women Bathing print are often made available in the public domain for study and appreciation.