The Bathers

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

1899-1904

Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)

Paul Cezanne set this idyllic view of a group of bathers in a frame of foliage. He rendered the ground, water, trees, and sky with patches of hatching that seem to register the energy he felt when painting. His primary concern, however, seems to have been striking a balance between the vigor of the bodies and the restfulness of the setting through individual poses and figure groupings—some invented, some likely derived from his other works depicting this subject.

Over the course of his career, Cezanne frequently revisited groups of bathers in nature. Through his multiple studies of the subject, he reconceived the classical motif of nudes outdoors in a modern style.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Paul Cezanne
Title: The Bathers
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1899–1904
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 51.3 × 61.7 cm (20 3/16 × 24 1/4 in.); Framed: 69.3 × 79.7 × 8.3 cm (27 1/4 × 31 3/8 × 3 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Amy McCormick Memorial Collection
Reference Number: 1942.457
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/45240/manifest.json

Lionello Venturi, Cézanne, son art, son oeuvre (Paris, 1936), vol. 1, p. 192, no. 722, vol. 2, pl. 238.
Clarence Bulliet, Apples and Madonnas (New York, 1930), p. 49.
The Studio 106 (October 1933), p. 200.
D. Odenheimer, “Mrs. Robert R. McCormick, Painter and Collector,” The Art Institute Bulletin 34 (April-May, 1940), p. 60 (ill.).
“McCormick Art Given to Chicago,” Art Digest (December 15, 1942), p. 19.
Edgar Allan Jewell, Paul Cézanne (New York ,1944) , p. 34 (ill.).
Liliane Brion-Guerry, Cézanne et l’expression de l’espace (Paris, 1950), fig. 28.
James Speyer, “Twentieth-Century European Painting and Sculpture,” Apollo 84 (September 1966), p. 222.
The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly no. 1 (February 1952), pp. 2-8.
Gertrude Berthold, Cezanne und die alten Meister (Stuttgart, 1958), p. 43, fig. 58.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961), pp. 73, 326 (ill.).
Fritz Novotny, Paul Cezanne, 1839-1906 (London, 1961), p. 41.
Liliane Brion-Guerry, Cézanne et l’expression de l’espace (Paris, 1966), p. 193.
John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (New York, 1970), pp. 105-104 (ill).
Kurt Badt, Das Spätwerk Cézannes (Konstanz, 1971), p. 21 (ill.).
S. Geist in Art International (November 20, 1975), p. 12 (ill.).
Theodore Reff, “Cézanne’s Late Bather Paintings,” Arts Magazine (October 1977), p. 118, fig. 9.
R. Kendall, ed., Cézanne by Himself (London, 1988), p. 262 (ill.).
K. Adler in Art in America (April 1990), p. 237 (ill.).
Michael Howard, Cézanne (London, 1990), pp. 152-153 (ill.).
Mary Louise Krumrine, “Cézanne’s ‘Restricted Power’: Further Reflections on the ‘Bathers’,” Burlington Magazine (September 1992), p. 592.
John Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalgoue Raisonné (New York, 1996), vol. 1, p. 512-13, no. 859, vol. 2, p. 301 (ill.).
Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, Cézanne in Provance, exh. cat. (Washington: National Gallery of Art; Aix-en-Provence: Musée Granet; Paris: Reunion de musées nationaux, 2006), 239, 253 cat. 126, 323.
The Age of Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven and London, 2008), cat. 68, pgs. 142, 143 (ill.).
Achim Borchardt-Hume, Gloria Groom, Caitlin Haskell and Natalia Sidlina, eds., Cezanne, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2022), 174 cat. 107.

New York, Paul Rosenberg & Co. at Wildenstein Galleries, Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Paul Cezanne, 1839–1906, Jan. 1928, cat. 8, as Les Baigneurs.
Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago, Exhibition of Modern French Paintings, Jan. 22–Feb. 2, 1929, no cat.
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Summer Exhibition: Retrospective, June–Sept. 1930, cat. 15, as Bathers.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–Nov. 1, 1933, cat. 306, as c. 1890.
Art Institute of Chicago, A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, June 1–Nov. 1, 1934, cat. 291, as c. 1890.
Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpiece of the Month, December 1943, no cat.
Cincinnati Art Museum, Paintings by Paul Cézanne, Feb. 5–Mar. 9, 1947, cat. 12 (ill.), as Bathers (Baigneuses), 1900–05.
Oberlin, OH, Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Exhibition, May 10–30, 1950, no cat.
Art Institute of Chicago, Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings; A Loan Exhibition, Feb. 7–Mar. 16, 1952, cat. 98 (ill.), as Bathers, 1900–05; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings; A Loan Exhibition, Apr.–May 18, 1952.
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy, An Exhibition of Paintings by Cézanne, Aug. 20–Sept. 18, 1954, cat. 60 (ill.), as Baigneuses, c. 1900; London, Tate Gallery, Sept. 29–Oct. 27, 1954.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Venetian Tradition, Nov. 1956–Jan. 1957, no cat.
San Francisco Museum of Art, Man: Glory, Jest and Riddle; A Survey of the Human Form through the ages, Nov. 10, 1964–Jan. 3, 1965, cat. 238 (ill.), as 1900–05.
Washington, DC, Phillips Collection, Cézanne: An Exhibition to Honor the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Phillips Collection, Feb. 27–Mar. 28, 1971, cat. 29 (ill.), as Bathers; Art Institute of Chicago, Apr. 17–May 16, 1971; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, June 1–July 30, 1971.
New York, Museum of Modern Art, Cézanne: The Late Work, Oct. 7, 1977–Jan. 3, 1978, cat. 38, as Bathers (Baigneuses); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Jan. 25–Mar. 21, 1977; Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, as Cézanne: Les Dernières Années (1895–1906), Apr. 20–July 23, 1978, cat. 100.
Liège, Belgium, Musée Saint Georges, Cézanne, Mar. 12–May 9, 1982, cat. 28 (ill.), as 1900–05; Aix–en–Provence, France, Musée Granet, June 12–Aug. 31, 1982.
Tokyo, Seibu Museum of Art, The Impressionist Tradition: Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago, Oct. 18–Dec. 17, 1985, cat. 52 (ill.); Fukuoka, Japan, Fukuoka Art Museum, Jan. 5–Feb. 2, 1986; Kyoto, Japan, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Mar. 4–Apr. 13, 1986.
Basel, Kunstmuseum, Paul Cézanne: Die Badenden, Sept. 10–Dec. 10, 1989, cat. 68, (ill.), as Baigneuses, 1900–04.
Paris, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Cézanne, Sept. 25, 1995–Jan. 7, 1996, cat. 220 (ill); London, Tate Gallery, Feb. 8–Apr. 28, 1996; Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 26–Aug. 18, 1996.
Washington, DC, National Gallery of Art, Cézanne in Provence, Jan. 29–May 7, cat. 126, 2006, as Bathers; Aix–en–Provence, France, Musée Granet, June 9–Sept. 7, 2006.
Fort Worth, TX, Kimbell Museum of Art, The Impressionists: Master Paintings from the Art Institute of Chicago, June 29–Nov. 2, 2008, cat. 68 (ill.).
Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Cézanne and the Past: Tradition and Creativity, Oct. 25, 2012–Feb. 17, 2013, cat. 145 (ill.), as Bathers.
Art Institute of Chicago, Cezanne, May 15–Sept. 5, 2022, cat. 107; London, Tate, Oct. 5, 2022–Mar. 12, 2023.

Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939), Paris. Jacques Zoubaloff (1876–1941), Paris, between 1918–1922; his sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June16–17, 1927, lot 113 (ill.). Jos. Hessel, Paris [according to Rewald 1996]. Paul Rosenberg and Co., Paris and New York, 1928 [New York 1928]. Chester H. Johnson Gallery, Chicago [Chicago 1933]. Mrs. Robert R. McCormick (Amy Irwin McCormick; 1872–1939), Chicago, by 1929 [see Chicago 1929 exhibition materials, Archives of American Art, copy in curatorial file]; By descent to her husband, Colonel Robert R. McCormick (1880–1955), Chicago; given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1942.

Rewald 859

Feilchenfeldt, Warman and Nash FWN 976

Venturi 722

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Currently Off View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

Currently Off View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Catalogues Raisonnés

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.