Bathing Women

Emile Bernard had likely seen Cezanne’s portrait of bathers when he painted this work, as the influence is apparent. Indeed, Bernard wrote an essay about Cezanne in 1891, publishing it in the magazine Les hommes d’aujourd’hui. The canvas evokes the Three Graces, and echoes of Cezanne’s style can be seen in the geometric rendering of the nudes as well as in the large, contiguous strokes of colour that structure the composition. The greenery is painted in the same Synthetist spirit, with an economy of means that communicates a desire to simplify. The elongated figures with small, delicate heads and mannered poses are, however, entirely Bernard’s. His distinctive decorative approach is also reflected in the titles he gave to his paintings; this work is recorded in his handwritten inventory as Allegorie rythmique-femmes nues (1891).