The bathers.

Lithograph, 42,2 x 29,9 cm, laid paper, signed "CHS" in stone, pencil signed (sl. wavy and creased margins).

Under passe-partout and frame (not studied outside frame).

This large lithograph is in many ways the archetypal Shannon image, with its graceful female nudes forming a harmonious circular composition, set against the waves of the sea. This composition is closely related to an oil painting by Shannon titled "The Sapphire Bay" (1903). Limited ed. of 50 copies. Shannon (1863-1937) was an English painter, book illustrator and printmaker. He was elected as Associate of the Royal Academy in 1911 and in 1918 became vice-president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers.