Artwork

Standing Bather, Seen from the Back

Standing Bather, Seen from the Back, by Paul Cezanne, oil, 1880
Standing Bather, Seen from the Back, by Paul Cezanne, oil, 1880

Standing Bather, Seen from the Back is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne. It dates from 1880 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.

About this work

Overview

Someone, perhaps the artist, cut this canvas from a larger painting, retaining remnants of the other composition.

In the course of making an artwork, Paul Cezanne often significantly altered his original design. Someone, perhaps the artist, cut this canvas from a larger painting, retaining remnants of the other composition. In the lower-left corner, a series of blue lines can be read as the legs of a seated figure from knees to ankles; the body may have continued on an adjacent part of the canvas. These lines sit on top of the background foliage, indicating that Cezanne added this second figure after completing the first, presumably before changing his mind about the direction of the painting or moving on to another work.

History & Provenance

Ambroise Vollard (1866–1939), Paris, by 1931 [Dormoy 1931]. Paul Guillaume (1891–1934), Paris [Rewald 1996]; by descent to his widow, Domenica Guillaume (née Juliette Léonie Lacaze, later Mme Jean Walter, 1898–1977), Paris, until 1936 [this and the following according to Art Institute of Chicago incoming receipt R5951]; sold to Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey McCormick, Chicago, Jan. 1936; by descent to their son, Brooks McCormick (1917–2006), Chicago; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2007.

Artist & collection

Portrait of Paul Cezanne

Artist

Paul Cezanne

Paul Cézanne was born on January 19, 1839, in Aix-en-Provence, the son of a hatter turned wealthy banker.