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Progressive Studies For The Variation Bathers

The second step down from the top is the only classic color study for the renowned "Great Bathers." This study features the first two characters Renoir created for the painting. It is a unique and beautiful work made with pastels and watercolors, utilized to determine positioning.

The forms are more refined, and the shapes in steps two and three closely resemble those of the final "Grand Bathers" paintings. In step three, the third figure is positioned to the right of the pastel and was also used to inform the positions, colors, proportions, and forms of the final painting featuring the three front models.

Renoir's trademark style is characterized by romanticism, intricate detail, and a celebration of love. The depiction of the woman has since inspired artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Bacon, Botero, and Calder, helping to keep the voluptuous figures of the Renaissance alive in modern art.

Black and white study with a single figure. Measurement unknown.

Pastel Study for the Bathers, 21 3/4 X 28". Eight-color pastel, Private collection.

(Figure third girl right). 18 ½" X 25 ½". Pencil black, red, and white chalk, watercolor. The Art Institute of Chicago.

Study for The Bathers, 1884-1885. 41" X 64" Pencil drawing, J. LaRoche collection. (Left Image)

Variation of The Bathers, 1884-1903, 44" X 65 ⅞", Renoir Museum.

Renoir's Studies for the Great Bathers

Black and white study with a single figure. Measurement unknown.

Pastel Study for the Bathers, 21 3/4 X 28". Eight-color pastel, Private collection.

(Figure third girl right). 18 ½" X 25 ½". Pencil black, red, and white chalk, watercolor. The Art Institute of Chicago.

Black and white study with a single figure. Measurement unknown.s

Renoir's Self-Inspiring Studies for The Grand Bathers & the Variant Bathers

These two preliminary drawings, the core for the final The Grand Bathers and The Variant Bathers paintings, are the only two primary studies in the first two steps of both final masterpieces

Detail, left, Classical Pastel and Watercolor Study for the Bathers, above, 1883 - 1885, 21 ½ in x 28 in, on guillotage paper, Private Collection, created the color, poses, and proportions for the front two figures of the final masterpiece.