The Large Bathers

C�zanne painted three large versions of the female bathers, all during the last seven years of his life. The version in Philadelphia is the largest. This was the first time that C�zanne had painted such a monumental canvas. Two other versions are in The Barnes Foundation, Merion, and in the National Gallery, London.

The figures in all three compositions are remarkably simply and coarsely painted. The female creatures frolicking on the riverbank are not graceful, rather they are sturdy, angular, oddly proportioned and plump, and have nothing erotic about them. C�zanne avoided any suggestion of individuality and instead has generalised the figures in the same way as the landscapes, so that both have equal artistic weight.

The Merion version of the Large Bathers is said to have taken five years to paint. This is not the result of any uncertainty in its dating, C�zannne really did spend so long painting it. His extremely slow way of working and dissatisfaction with the results of his efforts led him to leave a number of paintings unfinished.