If you walk into Gallery 391 at the Art Institute of Chicago, you’re basically hit with a wall of green, grey, and black. It’s huge. We're talking nearly thirteen feet wide. Matisse Bathers by a River isn't just a painting; it’s a decade-long struggle captured in oil. Most people see the flat figures and the weirdly dark vertical bands and think, "Okay, typical Matisse abstraction." But they're wrong. This wasn't a quick sketch or a momentary whim. Henri Matisse worked on this beast from 1909 all the way to 1917. Think about that timeline for a second. He started it when he was the "King of the Fauves," obsessed with bright, screaming colors, and finished it while the world was literally tearing itself apart during World War I.
The painting is a pivot point. It’s the moment Matisse stopped trying to be pretty and started trying to be profound. Honestly, it’s a bit chilling when you stand in front of it.
The Evolution from Joy to Something Much Darker
When Matisse first touched the canvas in 1909, it was supposed to be part of a trio. You’ve probably heard of The Dance and Music. Those were commissioned by Sergei Shchukin, a Russian businessman with an eye for the avant-garde. Originally, Bathers by a River was going to fit that vibe—something pastoral, rhythmic, and full of life. But something shifted. Matisse kept it in his studio. He poked at it. He repainted it. He lived with it for eight years.
By the time he finished in 1917, the lush Mediterranean blues and pinks were gone. Instead, we get these somber, architectural tones. Look at the figures. They aren't "pretty" bathers anymore. They’re stylized, almost like columns. Their faces are blank ovals. One of them doesn't even have a face—just a white void where a head should be. It’s haunting.
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The background is even weirder. He divided the scene into four vertical panels of color: pink, green, black, and blue. That black stripe in the middle? It’s a void. It cuts through the center like a physical barrier. Art historians often point to this as Matisse’s response to Cubism—the movement led by his rival, Pablo Picasso. Matisse didn't want to copy the Cubists, but he couldn't ignore them either. He took their structure and their flatness but kept his own sense of scale.
Why the Art Institute of Chicago Obsesses Over It
The Art Institute bought this piece in 1953, and they consider it one of the "big three" most important works in their entire collection. Why? Because it’s the bridge between the 19th-century tradition of "bather" paintings (think Cézanne or Renoir) and the total abstraction that would define the rest of the 20th century.
- The Scale: You can't appreciate the "bigness" of the thought process behind this on a phone screen. It’s immersive.
- The Layers: If you look closely at the texture, you can see the ghosts of previous versions. X-rays of the canvas show that the figures used to be more rounded, more "human." Matisse literally chiseled them down with paint.
- The Serpent: There’s a tiny white snake at the bottom. It’s easy to miss. Some say it’s a nod to the Garden of Eden, but in this austere landscape, it feels more like a warning.
There’s a popular misconception that Matisse was only the "painter of joy." That’s a total oversimplification. He was deeply affected by the war, even though he didn't fight. His son was in the military; his mother was in an occupied zone. You can see the tension in the brushstrokes. This isn't a vacation scene. It’s an endurance test.
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Cubism and the "Great War" Influence
People often ask if the war changed the painting. How could it not? In 1913, Matisse was looking at the work of Juan Gris and Picasso. He was experimenting with "mathematical" compositions. The vertical bands in Bathers by a River act like a cage. They stop the eye from wandering. You're forced to look at the geometry of the bodies.
Interestingly, Matisse himself called this work one of the five most "pivotal" of his entire career. He didn't say it was his favorite. He said it was pivotal. It was a breakthrough in how to organize space without using traditional perspective. There's no "far away" in this painting. Everything is right in your face.
If you compare this to his earlier work, like Le Bonheur de Vivre (The Joy of Life), the difference is staggering. The Joy of Life is all curves and soft light. Bathers by a River is all lines and shadows. It’s as if the world grew up, and Matisse grew up with it. The softness was gone, replaced by a structural integrity that felt more honest to the time.
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Seeing Matisse Bathers by a River Today
If you’re planning to see it, don't just walk past. Most tourists spend maybe six seconds in front of a masterpiece. This one requires at least five minutes. Stand back to see the vertical rhythm, then move in close to see where Matisse scraped the paint away. He used a palette knife in some sections, which was pretty aggressive for him at the time.
You’ll notice the green section on the left. It feels like a jungle, but a flattened, claustrophobic one. Then there’s that pink section on the right—a weird, fleshy tone that doesn't feel particularly "happy." The whole thing is a balance of opposites.
Wait, what about the water?
The "river" isn't really a river. It’s that blue band on the far right. But it doesn't flow. It just sits there. It’s a conceptual river. Matisse isn't painting a place; he's painting an idea of a place. He’s stripping away everything unnecessary until only the essence remains.
Actionable Insights for Art Lovers
If you want to truly understand what Matisse was doing here, try these steps the next time you're looking at modern art or even creating your own:
- Analyze the "Spatial Logic": Notice how there is no horizon line. If you were to draw a floor plan of where these women are standing, you couldn't do it. That’s intentional. Try to spot other paintings that reject "real" space.
- Look for the Pentimenti: These are the "mistakes" or changes an artist leaves behind. In Bathers by a River, the pentimenti are everywhere. They show the artist’s struggle. Finding them makes the art feel more human and less like a finished product from a factory.
- The 10-Foot Rule: This painting was designed for a specific scale. Stand 10 feet back, then 2 feet back. Notice how the black band in the center changes from a "divider" to an "abyss."
- Contextualize the Date: Always check the dates on Matisse works. Anything between 1914 and 1918 is going to have a different "soul" than his later, sun-drenched Nice period or his early Fauve years.
- Compare to the Cut-outs: Later in life, Matisse did his famous paper cut-outs. You can see the seeds of that "flat" style right here in 1917. The way he silhouettes the figures is exactly how he’d later use scissors.
Ultimately, Bathers by a River is about the transition from the old world to the new. It’s messy, it’s a bit cold, and it’s incredibly brave. It shows an artist willing to destroy his own "pretty" style to find something more resilient.