Bath of the Courtesan (recto); Nude Female with Attendants (verso), circa 1880 watercolor and pencil on paper Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Purchase, 1994. 94.002
Paul Cézanne
French, 1839 - 1906
Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France, as the son of a wealthy banker. As such, his parents convinced him to study law. In the mid-1860s, following several trips to Paris, he met the Impressionist artists Degas, Renoir, Monet and Manet. Later he would come into contact with Camille Pissarro cementing his ties with these revolutionary painters and eschew a more traditional profession. Cézanne included examples of his work with the Impressionists in their first and third exhibition in 1874 and 1878, respectively. Later, he would settle in Aix at his parents' estate where he would break away from the tenets of Impressionism.
In the Bath of the Courtesan, Cézanne is continuing the tradition of the reclining nude, utilized a several years earlier by Manet in his monumental Olympia. In the AAC watercolor, Cézanne brings attention to the center of the piece by placing brilliant blues, greens and reds around the figure. This focus is emphasized further with the placement of two gazing figures.
  
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