Bathers Playing with a Crab

The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Bathers Playing with a Crab as painting (France, 19th century · c. 1897).

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

After viewing Renaissance paintings on a trip to Italy in 1881, Renoir attempted to bring greater order and stability to Impressionism by merging flickering light effects with solid forms. He conveyed this new ambition in a series of paintings of nude bathers, a subject that preoccupied him from 1883 until his death in

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

FamiliarWeird

A CLOSER LOOK

The museum identifies this painting as oil on canvas and credits Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919).

The museum's collection notes: After viewing Renaissance paintings on a trip to Italy in 1881, Renoir attempted to bring greater order and stability to Impressionism by merging flickering light effects with solid forms. He conveyed this new ambition in a series of paintings of nude bathers, a subject that preoccupied him from 1883 until his death in 1919. Avant-garde artists of the 20th century admired his ability to blend modernist and classicizing tendencies.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

The Cleveland Museum of ArtBathers Playing with a Crab

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