On the Beach (La Baignade)

This work was painted at Le Tremblay-sur-Mauldre near Versailles. It is one of several paintings in which Picasso has returned to the ossified, volumetric forms in beach environments; most of which appeared in his works during the late 1920s and early 1930s. With the work’s simplified, planar style and dramatic poses of the foreground figures, it is plausible that the arcadian themes of the artist’s rival, Henri Matisse, would appeal to Picasso as an alternative and juxtaposition to the violent images of war he was producing at the time.
SKU: 6022
Creator: Pablo Picasso
Date: 1937
Original Medium: oil, conté crayon, and chalk on canvas
Original Size: 50 13/16 x 76 3/8 in.
Location: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
© Succession Picasso 2011