As a leader in the 19th century Impressionist movement, it is no surprise that Large Bathers exhibits some attributes of said type of painting, yet simultaneously exhibits what was known as “the crisis of Impressionism.” The landscape is the most Impressionist part of the piece: its rushed brush strokes and blurred colors are reminiscent of his earlier works, such as Sunset. His blurred trees and fluffy clouds are prime examples of “seeking the fleeting.” The water rings surrounding the standing woman as well as the water in the background are reminiscent of pointillism, a subset of Impressionism that became more prominent at the end of the 19th century. The pastel coloring of Large Bathers is realistic, yet romanticized, an accurate description of European Impressionist art. As much as Impressionism can be seen in Large Bathers, as a whole, the piece is viewed as more Neo-Impressionist, if anything, due to its heavy influences of Rococo and Classicism.
The Rococo energy of Large Bathers is most visible in its subject matter; the sensual frivolity of the nude women is a standard aspect of Rococo. One could argue that Renoir was attempting to suggest, under the veil of art, that the idea of multiple women in the nude, gallivanting in forest waters was a socially acceptable concept. The female figures’ natural positioning conveys movement and life. The fullness of their bodies is not up to par with the ideal female figure that was, more often than that, the standard of the era. As well, the voluptuous lips of the women strike a chord of sensuality unknown to other eras of European art. Rococo imagery is also notorious for not having a distinct sense of being a genre or portrait painting, just like Large Bathers.
The classicism of this piece is evident in the nudes, including the tight handling of figures and emphasis on contour of the female’s bodies. Different from the Impressionist “seeking the fleeting,” Renoir’s use of classical nudes seeks more to capture eternal beauty. The female figures in Large Bathers are quite different from the female figures in Manet’s Venus and Ingres’ Grand Odalisque. Renoir implies that his female figures’ nudity does not suggest virtue, nor is it implicative of naked “working” women; they are simply classical nude figures.
Large Bathers is visually incongruent due to it lack of unity in terms of style; the left and right sides differ in form, composition, and color. The left is largely classical, realistic, and linear, whereas the right is almost entirely Impressionist. The two bathers on the left are full-grown women, slightly under life-size, who turn towards the artist and viewer; the right side shows three smaller adolescent girls who turn away from the artist and viewer. The bodies of the two female figures on the left are detailed, crisp, and hard, like the women of classical art; there are many lines in their complex silhouettes, in the folds of their skin, as well as blue lines defining the leaves, branches, and trunks of the main trees. In contrast, the body of the nude female figure in the foreground on the right is less precise, more reminiscent of Impressionism. Her loose curls cover her face, while her vertical, minimally complex posture ties her to the two female figures behind her. Those two women, along with the landscape on the right, have a vague, supple and Impressionist form.
The left side of Large Bathers dominates the painting, taking up about two-thirds of the canvas. It is also more intricate with regards to the complex relationship between the curvatures of the two nude figures. There is a blatant disconnect between the figures and landscape in this shallow space. The organization on the right is more careless; the space is deep and airy, and the female figures blend with their surroundings. Although bright light dominates the entire painting, the female figures on the left have an orange skin-color that is hotter than the pale, pink flesh tones of the figures at the right. The two left bathers are executed by smoother brushstrokes, making a glossy flesh. The three female figures on the right have skin that was executed with small strokes visible on the bodies and throughout the landscape, an Impressionist keystone.
In many ways, the left side of the painting appears contrived and overworked, while the right side seems spontaneous. This lack of unity and consistency within the painting detracts from the harmony of its theme of nudes bathing. This, in a sense, correlates perfectly in the way the three main influences (Impressionism, Rococo, Classicism) make Large Bathers the collage of styles and intentions that it is.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Large Bathers
Works Cited
Harris, Beth & Zucker, Steven. "Renoir's The Large Bathers." 2012.Web. <>.
“ Pierre-Auguste Renoir.” 2011. Web. <http://www.artble.com/artists/pierre-auguste_renoir>.
by
mhill07 (student)
