Sacred vs. profane
Featured Artworks
Bathers by Paul Cézanne: Geometry of the Modern Nude
Paul Cézanne
In Bathers, Paul Cézanne arranges a circle of generalized nudes beneath arching trees that meet like a <strong>natural vault</strong>, staging bathing as a timeless rite rather than a specific story. His <strong>constructive brushwork</strong> fuses bodies, water, and sky into one geometric order, balancing cool blues with warm ochres. The scene proposes a measured <strong>harmony between figure and landscape</strong>, a culmination of Cézanne’s search for enduring structure <sup>[1]</sup><sup>[2]</sup>.
Rouen Cathedral Series
Claude Monet (1894)
Claude Monet’s Rouen Cathedral Series (1892–94) turns a Gothic monument into a laboratory of <strong>light, time, and perception</strong>. In this sunstruck façade, portals, gables, and a warm, orange-tinged rose window flicker in pearly violets and buttery yellows against a crystalline blue sky, while tiny figures at the base anchor the scale. The painting insists that <strong>light—not stone—is the true subject</strong> <sup>[1]</sup><sup>[2]</sup>.