Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
View source →Bathers (La Baignade)
Pablo Picasso, 1918
Technical Details
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
27 × 22 cm (10.6 × 8.7 in)
Style
Neoclassicism
Decade
1910s
About This Work
A small but significant transitional work painted in the summer of 1918, when Picasso was honeymooning with Olga Khokhlova in Biarritz. The beach scene with bathers marks the beginning of his Neoclassical period — the monumental, solidly modeled figures contrast sharply with the fragmented forms of his Cubist work. The Mediterranean light and the classical poses reflect his new engagement with the ancient world.
Picasso married Olga Khokhlova on July 12, 1918, and spent their honeymoon in Biarritz at the Villa La Mimoseraie. The beach scenes painted there mark the beginning of his Neoclassical period — a return to figurative painting that would last through the early 1920s. The influence of his work with the Ballets Russes and his exposure to ancient Greek and Roman art in Italy in 1917 are clearly visible.
Current Location
Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
Priceless / Not for sale
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
Keywords
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