Bathers, 1918 By Pablo Picasso Editorial Photo

Starting from 1918, Picasso spent all his summers at the beach, first at Biarritz, then on the Cote d'Azur or in Dinard. These journeys inspired him to create a series of works on the theme of bathers. This painting was created in 1918 at Biarritz and the first one of the series. It has been a long tradition in art history for artists to depict the female nudity with the sea scene, extending from The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli to The Large Bathers of Paul Cezanne. This one, though, gives an idea of the healthy, active life of vacationers on sunny beaches, free of cumbersome clothing and cares.