Magnet Picasso - Large Bather With Book

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
Large Bather With Book, 1937 - Oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas - Donated by the Picasso estate, 1979. MP 160
© Succession Picasso 2020 - Paris, musée Picasso

Phased out of his sculptural pieces from 1930 onwards, the bather as subject is reintroduced to Picasso's work...

Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
Large Bather With Book, 1937 - Oil, pastel and charcoal on canvas - Donated by the Picasso estate, 1979. MP 160
© Succession Picasso 2020 - Paris, musée Picasso

Phased out of his sculptural pieces from 1930 onwards, the bather as subject is reintroduced to Picasso's work in February 1937. In contrast to the dynamic energy of his sculptures, Picasso's painted bathers are portrayed as static. The huddled form of this bather pouring over her book is rendered through ovals, conveying her concentration as she reads. The curves and angles that make up her body are highly exaggerated, and she has been made to look solid and sculptural through the application of clean charcoal lines and pastel highlights to the paint.