The Large Bathers by Cézanne: An Arch of Trees and Bodies

In this article

The largest of Cézanne’s bathers

Cézanne painted groups of nude bathers in landscapes for most of his career. At the end of his life he worked on three large canvases of the subject. This one, the biggest, measures about two by two and a half metres. He worked on it from around 1898 until his death in 1906.

It belongs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which bought it in 1937.

Trees that form an arch

Tall trunks leaning inwards against blue sky — Trees that form an arch.

Tall tree trunks lean inwards from both sides and almost meet above the figures, forming a great triangle or arch. The shape has often been compared to the vault of a church.

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Bodies like sculpture

Bathers leaning and kneeling on the left bank — Bodies treated like sculpture.

The women on the left lean, stride and kneel along the riverbank. Their bodies are simplified, outlined in blue, and treated almost like architecture rather than as individual people.

Bathers sitting and reclining against the trees — The right-hand group.

On the right, another group sits and reclines against the trees. The two groups mirror each other across the pool of water.

Figures across the river

Two small figures on the far bank near a church tower — Figures across the river.

Across the water, two tiny figures stand on the far bank near a church tower. They give depth to the scene and show that this is a timeless, idealised landscape, not a real bathing place.

A painting that inspired modern art

The Large Bathers was shown after Cézanne’s death and had a huge influence on younger artists. Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and Matisse’s bathers both owe something to it.

Questions about The Large Bathers

Where is it?

Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Are there other versions?

Yes. Two other large bathers paintings are in the Barnes Foundation and the National Gallery, London.

When was it painted?

Around 1898 to 1906; Cézanne worked on it until his death.

How large is it?

About 210.5 × 250.8 centimetres, oil on canvas.

Sources and image credit

Public-domain reproduction of The Large Bathers (about 1898 to 1906), via Wikimedia Commons (Google Art Project). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.