La Plage 1920

André Lhote painted ‘La Plage’ in France, sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. It shows two women reclining in an intimate pose at the beach. Painted after the First World War, ‘La Plage’ evokes the cultural climate of that time. The women are painted in a Cubist style, their forms reduced to geometric shapes. Cubism was the dominant art movement in pre-war Paris. In this image, Lhote is interested in questions about the institutions of art, and how these related to the world around him. It may also reference the increasing freedom of women in Europe at that time, and the emergence of more progressive ideas about love, sex, and the body. But it is open to interpretation! As historians, we can study Lhote’s painting by researching the artistic ideas of his time, reading his critical writings, and reflecting on the social conditions in which he worked.