Young painter, aware of the mastery of his art, André Lhote threw himself into this large painting that

he created especially for the Salon des Indépendants in 1910, and composed it with

intensity and in a true melting pot of influences:

• first of all, that of Cézanne for his geometric construction of space, the rhythm of

colors, the alternation of contrasts… which he admired in the Grandes Baigneuses;

• then, comes Gauguin's vivid palette and foliage which he discovered at the home of

his patron the collector Gabriel Frizeau who owned the monumental painting “D’où

venons-nous ? Qui sommes-nous ? Où allons-nous ?”;

• finally, the sculptural forms of the young women recall the Baigneuses which Derain

also presented at the Salon of 1907.