# Bathers

**Paul Cézanne** (French, 1839–1906)  
1890–1900  
Color lithograph on ivory laid paper  
Image: 42.1 × 52.8 cm (16 5/8 × 20 13/16 in.); Sheet: 46.4 × 56.9 cm (18 5/16 × 22 7/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1932.1297. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/13562).

## About this work

Nude bathers stand and lounge by the water beneath trees, a theme Cézanne explored for decades in paintings, drawings and watercolours. This colour lithograph, made in the late 1890s at the urging of the dealer Ambroise Vollard, who was publishing albums of artists’ prints, is one of only a handful of prints Cézanne produced. The figures are reduced to simple, sculptural forms, and the colour, printed from separate stones, is laid in light, open touches that echo his watercolours.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Paul Cézanne made this in 1890–1900, aged about 51. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of color lithograph on ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Lithograph.** Drawn on limestone with a greasy crayon or ink. The stone is kept damp, and the oily printing ink clings only to the drawing. Invented in the 1790s, it let artists print exactly as they drew.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Paul Cézanne](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/paul-cezanne)

French, 1839–1906; born in Aix-en-Provence; died in Aix-en-Provence

Cézanne divided his life between Paris and his native Aix-en-Provence. Encouraged by his schoolfriend Émile Zola and later by Pissarro, with whom he painted at Pontoise and Auvers in the 1870s, he showed at the first and third Impressionist exhibitions. He then withdrew to Provence and worked towards a more structured art, building form from patches of colour in still lifes, bathers and repeated views of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Younger painters, Picasso and Braque among them, saw him as a founder of modern painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: France
- The artist was about 51
- Real size: about 17 × 20 in (42 × 52 cm). The 16 × 20 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/27.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/27/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/bathers-aic-13562).