Shop art print and framed art The Bathers by Paul Gauguin

History of Paul Gauguin's Bathers

Created in 1887, the painting Les Baigneuses is the work of post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, who left his mark on the history of art in the 19th century. This creation reflects the master's artistic inspirations and offers contemplative viewers a vibrant testament to his experiments with form and colour.

Influence of Gauguin's travels on the work

Travel had a great influence on Gauguin's artistic development. Before creating "Les Baigneuses", he had travelled to Tahiti to study traditional Polynesian arts. This experience was a major source of inspiration for "Les Baigneuses". Thanks to his immersion in the local culture, Gauguin achieved a synthesis between the themes of the Breton landscape, from which he drew great lessons during a stay in Pont-Aven, and the motifs of Polynesian life.

Visual description of the work

General composition and subject represented

"The Bathers" presents a peaceful and idyllic scene in which four women with flowery hair relax by a river. Three of them stare at the viewer, while the bather in the centre of the painting turns her back. The trees overhanging the scene are lush and cast colourful shadows. The landscape, created using undulating curves, seems to reproduce the warm, humid atmosphere of the tropical climate.A traditional theme in European art, the subject of Bathers here allows the artist to depict nude, semi-nude bodies in a variety of postures.

Colours and techniques used

In this work, Gauguin employs a particularly vivid and warm colour palette. The emphasis is on contrasts between pink, red and green. The pictorial technique employed is characteristic of Post-Impressionism and is in keeping with the simplicity of the abstract forms, giving great graphic expression to the whole.

Influence of Polynesian culture

In homage to Polynesian cultures, Gauguin depicted his bathers wearing a style of dress similar to that of the Tahitian women he encountered on his travels. Their free, nonchalant attitude and nudity allowed the artist to invoke on canvas an image of an original paradise.

His impact on Post-Impressionism

Beyond famous exponents such as Paul Cézanne or Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin is another undisputed master who helped shape the innovative artistic movement known as Post-Impressionism. With The Bathers, he was able to express and publicise his particular vision of art, which essentially resided in the invention of a new plastic language enriched at the source of non-European cultures.

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the post-impressionism style.

« The Bathers » is kept at National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA.