The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne
An Online Catalogue Raisonné under the Direction of Société Paul Cezanne
(Formerly directed by Walter Feilchenfeldt, Jayne Warman and David Nash)
FWN 923
Trois baigneuses
1876–77
Alternate titles: Bagnanti; Baignade; Baigneuses; Drei badende Frauen; Etude de baigneuses; Les baigneuses; Les trois baigneuses; Three Bathers; Tres bañistas
Rewald (360): 1876–77; Venturi revised: 1878–79; Venturi (381): 1879–82; Cooper: 1881–82 (Burlington)
Oil on canvas
20 1/2 x 21 3/8 in. (52 x 54.5 cm)
Vollard A stockbook: no. 4121, baigneuses trois femmes, celle de gauche tient une linge; feuilles verts
Provenance
Exhibition History
Salon d'Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, Salle Cézanne, October 15–November 15, 1904, no. 28, as Baigneuses, lent by Vollard for Matisse.
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Paul Cézanne, January 10–22, 1910, no. 27, as Baignade, lent by H. Matisse.
Paul Rosenberg, Paris, L'art français au XIXe siècle, 1919.
Paul Rosenberg, Paris, Œuvres de grands maitres du dix-neuvième siècle, May 3–June 3, 1922, no. 7, as Baigneuses, 1880, lent by H. Matisse.
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Exposition Paul Cézanne (au profit de la caisse du monument Cézanne), March 3–24, 1924.
Musée de Cannes, Cannes, France, La Provence et ses peintres au XIXe siècle, 1929, no. 8, lent by Matisse.
Musée Galliera, Paris, Peintures des maîtres français provenant des collections de la ville de Paris, 1945, no. 54.
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Petit Palais: musée de la Ville de Paris, June 9–August 31, 1947, no. 179, as Les baigneuses, 1879-1882.
Biennale Internationale d'Arte, Venice, Italy, Gli Impressionisti alla XXIV Biennale di Venezia, May 29–September 30, 1948, no. 41, ill., as Bagnanti, c. 1879–82, lent by Petit Palais, Paris.
Hôtel de Ville, Rennes, France, Les origines de l'art contemporain, April 28–June 3, 1951, no. 40, as Baigneuses, c. 1879-82.
Petit Palais, Paris, Un siècle d'art français, 1850–1950, 1953, no. 444, ill., pl. 38, as Les trois baigneuses, 1879-1882.
Pavillon de Vendôme, Aix-en-Provence, France, Exposition pour commémorer le cinquantenaire de la mort de Cézanne, July 21–August 15, 1956, no. 18, ill. lent by Petit Palais.
Haus der Kunst, Munich, Paul Cézanne, October 12–November 18, 1956, no. 30, ill. lent by Petit Palais.
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, (Kunsthaus Lempertz), Cologne, Cézanne, Ausstellung zum Gedenken an sein 50. Todesjahr, December 1956–January 1957, no. 7, ill. lent by Petit Palais.
Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, Brussels, Le groupe des XX et son temps, February 17–April 8, 1962, no. 10, as Les trois baigneuses, lent by Musée du Petit Palais, Paris. Traveled to: Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller, Otterlo, the Netherlands, April 15–June 17, 1962.
Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, France, À la rencontre de Matisse, July–September 1969, no. 130, ill., as Trois baigneuses, c. 1880.
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, Les Cubistes, May 4–September 1, 1973, no. 9, ill., as Les baigneuses, 1879-1882, lent by Petit Palais, Paris. Traveled to: Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, September 26–November 10, 1973.
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Cézanne, March 30–May 19, 1974, no. 13. Traveled to: Municipal Museum, Kyoto, Japan, June 1–July 17, 1974; Cultural Center, Fukuoka, Japan, July 24–August 18, 1974.
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Peindre dans la lumière de la Méditerranée, July–September 1987, no. 61, ill. in color, as Les baigneuses, 1879-1882. Traveled to: Musée Cantini, Marseille, France, October–November 1987.
Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, Paul Cézanne: Die Badenden, September 10–December 10, 1989, no. 35, pls. 110 and 222.
Grand Palais, Paris, Cézanne, September 26, 1995–January 14, 1996, no. 60, ill. Traveled to: Tate Gallery, London, February 8–April 28, 1996; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, May 26–September 1, 1996.
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany, Die großen Sammlungen VII: Von Ingres bis Cézanne, Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Sammlung des Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, May 27–September 27, 1998, no. 195, ill., as Les trois baigneuses, 1879-82.
Fundación La Caixa - CaixaForum, Barcelona, Spain, D'Ingres à Bonnard: collection du Musée du Petit Palais, Paris, February 17–May 11, 2003, no. 52, ill., as Trois baigneuses.
Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao, Spain, De Ingres à Cézanne : El siglo XIX en la coleccion del Petit Palais, June 28–September 19, 2004, no. 73, ill., as Tres bañistas, 1879-1882.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, September 14, 2006–January 7, 2007, no. 33, fig. 147, pp. 132, 338, as Trois baigneuses. Traveled to: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, February 17–May 13, 2007; Musée d'Orsay, Paris, June 19–September 16, 2007.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Cézanne and Beyond, February 26–May 17, 2009, pl. 10, p. 123, as Trois baigneuses.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde, May 21–September 6, 2011, pl. 115, as Three Bathers, 1879-82, lent by Petit Palais; shown in San Francisco only. Traveled to: Grand Palais, Paris, October 5, 2011–January 16, 2012 (see Paris 2011-12a for a separate listing because the catalogue numbers are different from the two American venues); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 21–June 3, 2012.
Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, Cézanne et Paris, October 12, 2011–February 26, 2012, no. 47, ill., p. 95, as Trois baigneuses, lent by Petit Palais.
National Art Center, Tokyo, Cézanne: Paris-Provence, March 28–May 11, 2012, no. 55, ill.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen, France, Un été au bord de l'eau: loisirs et impressionnisme, March 27–September 29, 2013, no. 62, ill., as Trois baigneuses, c. 1879-1882.
National Gallery, London, Painters' Painting: From Freud to Van Dyck, June 23–September 4, 2016, no. 7, ill., p. 31.
Szépmüvészeti Múzeum, Budapest, Hungary, Cezanne to Malevich, Arcadia to Abstraction, October 28, 2021–February 13, 2022, no. 54, ill.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Cezanne, May 15–September 5, 2022, no. 104, ill. Traveled to: Tate Modern, London, October 6, 2022–March 12, 2023.
Published References
Coquiot, Gustave. Paul Cézanne. Paris: Ollendorf, 1919, ill. p. 192 (opposite), as Baigneuses.
Janneau, Guillaume. "Les grandes expositions: maîtres du siècle passé." La Renaissance de l'art français et des industries de luxe (Paris), vol. 5, no. 5 (May 1922), p. 342.
Denis, Maurice. "Le dessin de Cézanne." L'Amour de l'art 5, no. 2 (February 1924), ill. p. 41, as Baigneuses, (Coll. Henri-Matisse).
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne: Son Art, Son Oeuvre. Paris: Editions Paul Rosenberg, 1936, no. 381, ill. vol. II, as Trois baigneuses.
Escholier, Raymond. Henri Matisse. Paris: Floury, 1937, p. 17, note 2 (reprint of Matisse's letter of Nov. 10, 1936).
Laver, James. French Painting and the Nineteenth Century. London: B.T. Batsford, 1937, fig. 116.
Matisse, Henri. "Un geste noble de Henri Matisse." Beaux-arts: Chronique des arts et de la curiosité, no. 230 (May 28, 1937), p. 2, as Trois baigneuses.
Dorival, Bernard. Images de la peinture française contemporaine. Paris: Éditions Nomis, 1946, p. 13.
Barr, Jr., Alfred H. Matisse: His Art and His Public. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1951, p. 18, ill., and pp. 38–40.
Hartlaub, G.F. Die Impressionisten in Frankreich. Wiesbaden: Emil Vollmer Verlag, [c. 1953], ill. p. 44, as Drei badende Frauen.
Franz, H.G. "Cézanne und die Abkehr von Impressionismus." Forschungen und Fortschritte (February 1956), p. 54.
Balzer, Wolfgang. Der Französische Impressionismus: Die Hauptmeister in der Malerei. Dresden: Verlag der Kunst, 1958, no. 109, ill., as Drei badende Frauen, 1879-1882.
Golding, John. "The 'Demoiselles d'Avignon.'" The Burlington Magazine 100, no. 662 (May 1958), p. 156, fig. 17 p. [154], as Trois baigneuses.
Golding, John. Cubism: A History and an Analysis, 1907–1914. London: G. Wittenborn, 1959, fig. 79A.
Feist, Peter Heinz. "Harmonie Parallel zur Natur, zur Malerei Paul Cezannes." Bildende Kunst 1 (1962), p. 21, ill.
Grünigen, Berchtold von. Vom Impressionismus zum Tachismus. Basel: Birkhäuser, 1964, p. 24, fig. 30.
Murphy, Richard W. The World of Cézanne, 1839–1906. New York: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 178.
Matisse, Henri. Ecrits et propos sur l'art. Paris: Hermann, 1972, pp. 47–48, 83–84, p. 134, note 103, p. 310.
Flam, Jack. Matisse on Art. New York: Phaidon, 1973, pp. 38, 55, 75 (English translation), 25, fig. 9.
Schapiro, Meyer. Paul Cézanne. Translated by Louis-Marie Ollivier. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Françaises, 1973, p. 58, ill.
Sutton, Denys. "The Paradoxes of Cézanne." Apollo (London) 100, no. 150 (August 1974), ill. on cover.
Reff, Theodore. "Cézanne's Late Bather Paintings." Arts Magazine 52, no. 2 (October 1977), p. 117, fig. 4.
Embiricos, Georges A. "Cézanne et la répétition." Connaissance des Arts, no. 315 (May 1978), p. 72, ill.
Gordon, Donald E. "The Expressionist Cézanne." Artforum 16, no. 7 (March 1978), p. 37, ill.
Ponente, Nello, ed. Cézanne e le avanguardie. Rome: Officina Edizioni, 1981, Colli: pl. 10.
Harris, Nathaniel. The Art of Cézanne. London: Optimum Books, 1982, p. 76, ill. in color.
Ballas, Guila. "Unknown Sources for Cézanne's Women Bathers." In Norms and Variations in Art: Essays in Honor of Moshe Barasch. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1983, p. 189.
Le Pichon, Yann. The Real World of the Impressionists: Painting and Photographs, 1848–1918. New York: C.N. Potter, 1984, p. 233, ill.
Shiff, Richard. Cézanne and the end of Impressionism: a study of the theory, technique, and a critical evaluation of modern art. Chicago; London: The Univesity of Chicago Press, 1984, pp. 167, 208, fig. 36, 49, as Trois baigneuses, c. 1881-82.
Pickvance, Ronald, and Hideo Takumi. Cézanne. Tokyo: Tokyo Shimbun, 1986. Exhibition catalogue, p. 36, ill.
Geelhaar, Christian. "The Painters Who Had the Right Eyes: On the reception of Cézanne's Bathers." In Paul Cézanne: The Bathers. Basel: Kunstmuseum Basel, 1989. Exhibition catalogue, p. 291, fig. 222, as Trois baigneuses.
Rewald, John. Cézanne and America: Dealers, Collectors, Artists and Critics, 1891–1921. Princeton: Princeton University Press; London: Thames & Hudson, 1989, p. 194, fig. 57.
Krumrine, Mary Louise. "Cézanne's 'Restricted Power': Further Reflections on the 'Bathers.'" The Burlington Magazine 134, no. 1074 (September 1992), fig. 14 p. 590, as Trois baigneuses.
Garb, Tamar. "Visuality and Sexuality in Cézanne's Late Bathers." Oxford Art Journal 19, no. 2 (1996), p. 57, fig. 15.
Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: Landscape into Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, p. 49, fig. 24, as Trois baigneuses, dated 1881–82.
"Paul Cézanne: el ermitaño tentado." Lettra inernacional (Madrid) 43 (March-April 1196), ill. p. 65, as Tres bañistas, 1879-1882.
Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne, A Catalogue Raisonné, 2 vols. In Collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt and Jayne Warman. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996, no. 360, ill. vol. 2, as Trois baigneuses.
Smith, Paul. Interpreting Cézanne. London: Tate Publishing, 1996, p. 70, fig. 57, as Three Bathers.
Shiff, Richard. "Mark, Motif, Materiality." In Cézanne: Finished, Unfinished. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2000. Exhibition catalogue, p. 113, fig. 16, as Trois baigneuses.
Ballas, Guila. Cézanne: baigneuses et baigneurs: thème et composition. Paris: Adam Biro, 2002, ill. pp. 51 and 252 (detail), p. 277, no. 12, ill., as Trois baigneuses, 1879-80.
Baumann, Felix A., ed. Cézanne—Aufbruch in die Moderne. Essen: Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2004. Exhibition catalogue, p. 61, ill., as Trois baigneuses.
Rodriguez, Jean-François. "Firenze 1910: la 'Prima Mostra Italiana dell'impressionismo frances' tra Cézanne e Picasso." In Cézanne a Firenze: Due collezionisti e la mostra dell'Impressionismo del 1910. Milan: Electa, 2007. Exhibition catalogue, p. 161, ill. in color.
Shiff, Richard. "Risible Cézanne." In The Repeating Image: Multiples in French Painting from David to Matisse. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2007. Exhibition catalogue, p. 128, fig. 1, as Three Bathers, dated 1879–82.
Bardazzi, Francesca, ed. Cézanne in Florence: Two Collectors and the 1910 Exhibition of Impressionism. Translated by John Venerella. Milan: Mondadori Electa, 2007. Exhibition catalogue, p. 161, ill., as Trois baigneuses.
D'Souza, Aruna. Cézanne's Bathers. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008, pl. 1, ill.
Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: The Eye and the Mind, 2 vols. Marseille: Editions Crès, 2008, vol. 1, fig. 83; vol. 2, p. 76, as Trois baigneuses.
Bois, Yve-Alain. "Cézanne and Matisse: From Apprenticeship to Creative Misreading." In Cézanne and Beyond. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Haven: In association with Yale University Press, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, p. 103, ill. and p. 123, pl. 10, pp. 121, 125 (details), as Three Bathers, dated 1879–82.
Kaiser, Franz-W. "Over 'beïnvloeding' in de beeldende kunst." In Cézanne, Picasso, Mondriaan: in nieuw perspectief. Zwolle: Waanders, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 1, as Trois baigneuses.
Roquebert, Anne. "De Cézanne à Picasso: Chez Vollard." In Picasso, Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence: Musée Granet, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, p. 34, fig. 4, as Trois baigneuses.
Shiff, Richard. "Lucky Cézanne (Cézanne Tychique)." In Cézanne and Beyond. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, p. 72, ill., p. 123, pl. 10, as Three Bathers, dated 1879–82.
Roquebert, Anne. "Van Cézanne naar Picasso: Ambroise Vollard." In Cézanne, Picasso, Mondriaan: in nieuw perspectief. Zwolle: Waanders, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 4, as Trois baigneuses.
Coutagne, Denis. "Le Femme exposée." In Cézanne et Paris. Paris: Éditions de la Rmn-Grand Palais, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 95, ill., as Trois baigneuses.
Coutagne, Denis. Cézanne abstraction faite. Paris: Les Editions du Cerf, 2011, p. 188, fig. 129.
Rishel, Joseph J. "Introduction." In Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2012. Exhibition catalogue, p. 2, fig. 2, as Three Bathers, dated 1879–82.
Colrat, Jean. Cézanne: Joindre les mains errantes de la nature. Paris-Sorbonne: PUPS, 2013, p. 170, pl. 65.
Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: Landscape into Art. Prague: Arbor Vitae, 2014, p. 84, fig. 22, as Trois baigneuses.
Lloyd, Christopher. Paul Cézanne, Drawings and Watercolors. London and Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson and John Paul Getty Museum, 2015, p. 170, fig. 116, dated 1879–82.
Cézanne: Pioneer of Modern Art. Kanagawa: Pola Museum of Art, Pola Art Foundation, 2015. Exhibition catalogue, p. 118, fig. 22.
Grammont, Claudine. "Les Cézanne de Matisse, 1865–1881." In Paul Cezanne, Le chant de la terre. Martigny: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2017. Exhibition catalogue, p. 77, fig. 1.
Dombrowski, André, Nancy Ireson, and Sylvie Patry, eds. Cézanne in the Barnes Foundation. New York: Rizzoli Electa in association with The Barnes Foundation, 2021, p. 101, fig. 3, as Three Bathers.
Nagaï, Takanori. Truth in Panting: The Meaning of Cezanne's Practices for Modernizing Society. Tokyo: Sangesha Publishers Inc., 2022, pl. 45.
Notes
This painting is related to [Trois baigneuses, 1876–77 (922)]. Several drawings are also connected to the work (FWN 3003-08a and FWN 3003-08b). Like the preceding entry, the standing figure at left recurs in a number of compositions of female bathers.
Henri Matisse first saw this canvas at Ambroise Vollard's rue Laffitte gallery in December 1899. He bought the painting in several payments at great financial sacrifice and revered it throughout his life. While teaching art at his Académie Matisse in Paris the painter would at times become emotional in front of this work. One of his students recalled: "With great modesty and deep inner pride, he showed us his painting Bathers by Cézanne. His silence before it was ore evocative and eloquent than words. A spirit of elation and aw pervaded the studio at such times." (Max Weber, "Cézanne and the Crisis of Art," in A. Barr, Matisse: His Art and Public, 1951, p. 87)
He is famously quoted as saying: "If you only knew the moral strength, the encouragement that his remarkable example gave me all my life! In moments of doubt, when I was still searching for myself, frightened sometimes by my discoveries, I thought: 'If Cézanne is right, I am right'; because I knew that Cézanne made no mistake." (H. Matisse interview with Jacques Guenne, 1925, reprinted in Flam, Matisse on Art, 1995, p. 80)
Related work
Record last updated March 19, 2021. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Société Paul Cezanne. "Trois baigneuses, 1876–77 (FWN 923)." In The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=356 (accessed on May 1, 2025).
