The Bathers

The bright colouring and idyllic setting of this painting is distinctive of much of John's work of this period. He painted against the backdrop of the French countryside on many occasions and it is likely that this painting is also an example of this. The painting bears similarities with a large oil of 1911-13 called The Mumpers (The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit), in which John paints a group of travelling beggars by the sea, cooking on an open fire whilst barefoot. The scene suggests that they are content with the simplicity of their lives, expressing a unity with nature and their surroundings. Although the figures in The Bathers are nude and have adopted more classical poses, there is a similar sense of the harmonious relationship between the figures and their surroundings. In both paintings, John employs the use of bright blues and greens to describe the landscape and flat areas of pattern, as we see here in the clouds. The setting and the way in which John has located his figures within it also suggests that John was aware of Seurat's painting of 1883-4, Bathers at Asniéres (National Gallery, London).