The Bathers 

Editor: Here we have Renoir’s *The Bathers*, rendered in oil paint. I'm struck by the interplay between the figures and the landscape – it feels almost like the women are growing organically from the earth itself. What formal qualities stand out to you in this piece? Curator: The application of paint itself is quite interesting. Notice how Renoir employs broken brushstrokes. He isn't aiming for perfect verisimilitude, but instead utilizes a textured surface, dissolving firm lines to favor atmospheric effects. Do you see the lack of tonal contrast which keeps the gaze roving throughout the composition? Editor: I do, and it’s very effective. The figures aren’t sharply defined, giving the whole scene an almost dreamlike quality, in my opinion. Curator: Precisely. And that is partly accomplished through the formal harmony created by echoes of curvilinear shapes: see how the curve of a back reflects that of a distant hill? Editor: Yes! It’s like a dance between the figures and the landscape. It unifies the piece even if the individual elements are, as you pointed out, somewhat indistinct. It gives it a soft harmony. Curator: Furthermore, think about the composition. It’s structured along the lines of a classical frieze. How do the foregrounded bathers seem related to their partially-immersed background counterparts? Editor: The whole frieze almost undulates. All of the women’s soft forms interact with their environment. It has a tactile feeling, almost like an invitation. Thank you, this has made me think about the painting in a whole new light. Curator: And considering that formal relation as the principal site of artistic meaning enables appreciation that might otherwise be lost to merely historical concerns.