
The admiration of female beauty played a special role in the life and work of Shmarov. Nicknamed the modern “Russian Renoir”, Shmarov, like the famous Frenchman, saw in women a riddle in their elusive and compelling power over men’s hearts.
A lively, impressionistic brushstroke underlines the ephemeral subject of the painting. Who are these mysterious, blissful bathers? Young girls resting from their labor, or maybe mermaids, those heroines of Russian folklore?