Bathers is representative of the work for which Furlonger established his reputation in the mid-1980s. The painting is characterised by a combination of vigorous brushstrokes, high-keyed colour, hedonistic beach imagery and a suggestion of post-cubist Picasso and Braque. The monumental scale of this painting distinguishes its concerns from those of earlier twentieth-century masters with whose work it may be compared. By painting on such a big canvas Furlonger was able to incorporate a more obviously physical energy into the production of the work. This physicality corresponds with the activity depicted. Working at a time when strident brushstrokes were associated with an emotional Neo-Expressionist phase of contemporary art, Furlonger — in contrast — filled this painting and others like it with an untroubled and optimistic energy.