Focus on Three Bathers and analyze the Background.
Bathers were a prominent theme in Cézanne’s work and preoccupied him throughout his lifetime. Over the course of his career, he created about 200 works that were devoted to male and female bathers, which he depicted in paintings, watercolours and drawings. The portrayal of nude women in an idealised setting is reminiscent of classical scenes of semi-nude figures, such as those portrayed in Venetian Renaissance art.The artist Henri Matisse was a great admirer of Three Bathers and considered it to be a work of great importance. He stated, "I have drawn from it my faith and my perseverance". He acquired it at great financial cost from the influential art dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1899 and owned it for more than 30 years. He would often use the painting as an example when teaching his students at the Académie Matisse. Eventually he donated it to the Petit Palais in 1936.
Petit Palais Venetian Renaissance Henri Matisse Ambroise Vollard