Cezanne In Provence

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

I was born here; I will die here. c é z a n n e , a s r e c o r d e d b y j u l e s b o r é ly, 1 9 0 2

an affective bond with the Provençal land-

twenty-one-year old to cover the high

opposite of modeling.” Unlike the impres-

scene out of the specificity of the present

The town’s cascade of cubic houses lent

scape that resonated in Cézanne’s work

walls of the grand salon with murals that

sionists, however, who favored ephemeral

and places it into a more timeless realm:

itself well to Cézanne’s preoccupation

throughout his career.

were among his first forays in painting,

atmospheric effects, Cézanne was begin-

here he looks across the blue expanse of

with architectonic forms, which had first

and to use the space as an occasional stu-

ning to analyze the way sensations of

the bay from above the busy fishing vil-

emerged in the paintings of L’Estaque. The

Cézanne entered law school at the behest

Upon the completion of his schooling,

dio. Cézanne’s energetic early style, seen

color and light defined form in the mind’s

lage, with no suggestion of its daily activ-

composition of Gardanne, c. 1886

of his father, a businessman-turned-banker

in the portraits of family members and

eye, and to explore the translation of that

ity; only the smokestack of a tile factory

(f i g . 5 ), stresses the geometric rhythm

who had amassed enough of a fortune to

friends he painted at the Jas, including The

sensory perception onto the canvas. Begin-

denotes the modern world. In other works,

of homes staggered along the hill, their

such as L’Estaque: Pines, Rocks, and Sea,

angular structures integrated into the

But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside.... I see superb things, and I must resolve to paint only outdoors. october 1866

p r o v e n c e n u r t u r e d the life and art

composition and more intense, saturated

bring the family into the world of genteel

Artist’s Father, Reading “L’Événement,”

ning around 1880, he had moved beyond

of Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) like no

color, which were to influence succeed-

living and who desired that his son choose

1866 (f i g . 1 ), featured a dark palette of

the flickering brushwork characteristic

1883 – 1885 (c o v e r ), Cézanne shifted

soft organic forms of the landscape. The

public. Complaining about those who

it creates a claustrophobic and oppressive

other place. In the distinctive countryside

ing generations of painters. Throughout

a respectable profession. But Cézanne

heavily impastoed paint applied roughly

of impressionism to his more mature

the view away entirely from the town to

fluidly painted composition is unfinished,

would get their “hooks” into him, he

space that contrasts strikingly with the

style, which is notable for its structured

the scenic topography of the surrounding

yet the passages of bare canvas contribute

withdrew to the solitude of sites such as

open views of works such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque (see f i g . 4 ).

fig. 2

fig. 3

around his native Aix-en-Provence he

the sometimes arduous progression

soon abandoned his law studies to devote

with a palette knife. This rugged manner

found the motifs, rich in natural beauty

of Cézanne’s career, Provence — more

himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to

reflected Cézanne’s initial debt to Gustave

application of paint in the form of dense,

hills, hiding factory chimneys behind a

to the overall sense of light that ema-

Bibémus, which had been abandoned

but also in emotive associations, that have

specifically the countryside around his

meet up with Zola, who had urged him to

Courbet, whose work he encountered

storied structure is seen behind a lush

ing village of L’Estaque remained largely

parallel brushstrokes. The patches of color

wall of tall pine trees.

nates from it. As he did in the views of

by the time he sought it out. For several

since become synonymous with his art.

birthplace — remained a constant inspira-

trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the

in Paris, as well as a typically Provençal

framework of trees. By this date, the artist

untouched by industrialization and tour-

rendered in this way unite his composi-

L’Estaque, Cézanne ignored the industrial

years he rented a nearby cabin so that he

an old country house known as the

Cézanne created some of his most compel-

tion in his struggle to master the means of

museums, art academies, and companion-

appreciation for vigorous paint handling.

had moved away from his early technique

ism until the arrival of the railroad in the

tions through an overall surface pattern,

gardanne and bellevue

presence of Gardanne — in this case fac-

could work daily in the depths of its quiet,

Château Noir (whose name — the “black

ling images in the solitude of Provence.

his artistic expression. Other artists had

ship of progressive artists of the capital.

and toward more modulated brushwork

mid-nineteenth century. Because of its

a tapestrylike effect readily seen in works

In the decade after his final, 1885 sojourn

tories and coal pits that dotted the sur-

empty caverns, creating powerful images

manor” — may relate to a previous exterior

They include not only landscapes painted

come to paint the Provençal landscape

Cézanne learned how to paint in Paris;

estate grounds. The manor itself was the

that examined the relationship between

picturesque location and ideal climate,

such as The Gulf of Marseille Seen from

in L’Estaque, Cézanne continued depict-

rounding landscape — creating instead a

such as Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895 (f i g . 6 ).

color), where Cézanne rented a room to

outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif),

before him, but Cézanne made this corner

however, he never adopted the city as his

subject of numerous works, including

color and light. The sunlit scene of The

it soon became a popular seaside resort,

L’Estaque, c. 1885 (f i g . 4 ).

ing the Provençal landscape in several

timeless image of a picturesque Provençal

Here the wall of geometrically cut rock

keep his materials. In its decrepit isolation,

but also portraits, still lifes, and imagi-

of Provence uniquely his own, adopting

own. From the beginning he returned

The House of the Jas de Bouffan, c. 1874

House of the Jas de Bouffan reveals the

even though factories were beginning to

town dominated by its bell tower.

rises up high, nearly blocking out the sky

the house inspired some of the artist’s most

nary scenes of bathers that he executed in

motifs and views that convey a powerful

repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and

(f i g . 2 ), where the ocher-colored, three-

extent to which he absorbed the lessons of

encroach upon its charm. Cézanne went

entirely. Pushed close to the picture plane,

foreboding images. The eerie structure seen

the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

sense of place.

inspiration in its familiar countryside.

impressionism, especially those of Camille

there in 1870 after the outbreak of the

The Master of Aix, as Cézanne came

Cézanne frequently painted on the

As always in Cézanne’s landscapes,

fig. 5

locations outside of Aix. The decade was

to fail, and he broke off relations with his

the absence of figures in The Gulf of

a turbulent one personally for Cézanne:

oldest friend, Zola. Despite the emotional

Marseille Seen from L’Estaque takes the

his father died, his mother’s health began

upheaval, the paintings from this period

b i b é m u s a n d t h e c h ât e au n o i r

Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there

Pissarro, who had introduced him to the

Franco-Prussian War, together with his

are suggestive of the artist’s continuing

Along the roads traveling east out of Aix

to be known during his lifetime, drew

e a r ly y e a r s i n a i x a n d pa r i s

for good, making only short trips outside

importance of painting en plein air (out-

companion Hortense Fiquet, whom he

aspiration, in his own words, “to make of

lies a landscape that the artist knew inti-

on his birthplace for the inspiration that

Cézanne was born and raised in Aix, a

the region until his death in 1906.

of-doors) for capturing the visual sensa-

had met in Paris the year before. Hoping

impressionism something solid and endur-

mately. As a youth, he had headed out

set him on his path as an artist. Indeed,

sleepy provincial town that once had been

tions of nature.

to avoid conscription, he remained seques-

ing, like the art in museums.”

in this direction with Zola and Baille to

Provence was at the center of an emotion-

the capital of Provence and whose history

ja s de bouffan

ally charged body of art influenced not

dated back to Roman times. He was the

One of the most significant Provençal sites

over the course of four decades, moving

only by romanticism and realism, but

eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert,

for Cézanne from the earliest days of his

beyond the manor and its garden to find

also by the enduring legacy of the classi-

a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste

career was the Jas de Bouffan, the fam-

views at the outer edges of the estate. Even

cal past. By the time of his death in 1906,

Cézanne, an authoritarian father with

ily estate located on the outskirts of Aix.

after he abandoned the Jas de Bouffan as

Cézanne was widely regarded as a pivotal

whom he had a turbulent relationship.

Louis-Auguste had acquired it in 1859,

a motif in the late 1880s, he continued to

figure in the development of modern art,

Cézanne studied at the local Collège Bour-

but the family used it mostly as a summer

having paved the way for the crucial shift

bon, where he distinguished himself in

in artistic vision that began in the late

many areas, especially the classics. There

nineteenth century and culminated in the

Cézanne painted there intermittently

tered in the town until the conflict ended

Near his sister Rose Conil’s home,

explore the countryside’s myriad delights,

in early 1871, returning afterward on a

to the south of Aix, he was attracted to

which included a Roman aqueduct, a dam

number of occasions.

the estate and pigeon house of Bellevue

built by Zola’s father, and Bibémus, a

and the views around the River Arc val-

quarry that had been mined since Roman

development of Cézanne’s artistic vision,

ley toward the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

times for its rich supply of red sandstone.

for it was there, far removed from the

(see f i g . 8 ). Farther to the east lies Gar-

Because of these memories of childhood,

work at the house, painting some of his

dominant artistic currents in Paris, that

danne, a small village situated on a high

the area had special resonance for Cézanne.

residence until moving in permanently in

most cele­brated still lifes as well as the

his style began to mature into a truly per-

hill, where Cézanne lived for a short time

1870. The grounds featured a small arti-

renowned series of card players that took

sonal vision. Having arrived after spend-

with Hortense (whom he finally mar-

in 1895, Cézanne began to face increased,

he struck up a decades-long friendship

ficial pond with fountains of lions and a

as its models laborers at the estate, includ-

ing time in the colder, grayer north, the

ried in 1886) and their young son Paul.

unwanted attention from critics and the

breakthroughs of artists such as Henri

with fellow student and future novelist

dolphin; a garden, conservatory, and

ing Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899 (f i g . 3 ). He

artist responded strongly to the brilliant

Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the twen-

Émile Zola. The two, along with a third

farm with vineyards and orchards; and

was deeply upset when the family sold the

light and vivid color of the Mediterranean

tieth. Along the way he participated in

companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly

a chestnut-tree–lined avenue that led to

property in 1899.

coast, writing to Pissarro in 1876: “The

the impressionist movement, yet he never

explored the nearby countryside, swim-

the eighteenth-century manor house.

entirely aligned his own pictorial con-

ming in rivers, clambering along rocky

Although Louis-Auguste remained, at

l’ e s t a q u e

silhouetted not only in white or black,

cerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead,

canyons, and resting under the shade of

best, ambivalent about his son’s artistic

Located on the Mediterranean sea about

but in blue, red, brown, violet. I may

he developed a more rigorous, structured

tall pines. This youthful experience forged

aspirations, he nevertheless allowed the

twenty miles from Aix, the small fish-

be wrong, but it seems to me to be the

L’Estaque played a decisive role in the

There are treasures to be taken away from this country, which has not yet found an interpreter worthy of the riches it offers.

sun here is so terrific that objects appear

fig. 1

After his first one-man show in Paris

m ay 1 1 , 1 8 8 6 fig. 4

fig. 6

Near the quarry on a hillside was

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.

in Château Noir, 1900 – 1904 (f i g . 7 ),

Antoine-Fortuné Marion, who discovered

the city on a hillside known as Les Lauves,

seemingly in ruins, is half-hidden behind

evidence of its earliest inhabitants, evoked

within walking distance of his apartment.

Programs

pines that, like the rocks of Bibémus,

prehistoric times. Artists had long taken

There he set about building a more ser-

ominously obstruct the sky. Cézanne’s

note of Sainte-Victoire’s distinctive silhou-

viceable space. The Atelier des Lauves, a

film programs

lectures

c ata lo g u e

East Building Auditorium

intense palette — dark greens, blues, and

ette, but none had approached it with the

two-story structure that still exists, gave

ochers — makes the scene all the more

single-mindedness of Cézanne. He con-

Cézanne the privacy he craved while plac-

mysterious. The somber, enclosed spaces

ducted a long, intense engagement with

ing him closer to favorite motifs such as

of the Bibémus and the Château Noir

the mountain, visible from virtually every

the Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Cézanne

paintings, which count among his most

location he painted in the Axois country-

often painted directly in the open air

emotionally intense pictures, are indicative

side, that resulted in at least twenty-five

(f i g . 1 0 ). He even worked on his Large

of a decided melancholy that per­vades the

oils and watercolors, starting from the

Bathers outside: he had a special door-

artist’s work in his last decade, when, suf-

1880s until his death.

way built for the oversize canvases, more

A film series, opening on February 4, 2006, includes a variety of works and themes relating to Provence from the early decades of the twentieth century through the present. La Cinémathèque de Mar­seille, La Cinémathèque de Toulouse, and La Ciné­mathèque française have loaned works from their respective collections, including films by directors Jean Epstein, Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné, Marcel Pagnol, and René Allio. Short, early twentieth-century documentary views of the port city of Marseille and other locations are part of the program. See the Calendar of Events and winter Film Calendar for further details, or go to www.nga.gov.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated, 312-page catalogue, Cézanne in Provence, by exhibition curators Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne, with essays by Bruno Ely, Benedict Leca, Véronique Serrano, and Paul Smith. Produced by the National Gallery of Art and published in association with Yale University Press. Softcover $45; hardcover $60.

fering from diabetes, he began to face the reality of his own mortality.

In the Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

than six feet wide, so that they could be fig. 10

c. 1887 (f i g . 8 ), an arch of tree branches in the foreground frames a panoramic

moved in and out of the garden. He had treated the theme of bathers for many

fig. 8

m o n tag n e s a i n t e - v i c t o i r e

view that unfolds across a wide valley.

of dissolving into pure abstraction. The

years, not only in oil paintings but also in

Dominating the countryside surround-

At the foot of the mountain, a modern

patches make the canvas seem alive with

many watercolor studies. The subject had

ing Aix, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire

railway viaduct reads like a Roman aque-

movement and lay bare the painstaking

personal associations for Cézanne, for it

loomed large in the identity of the area.

duct, suggesting the classical landscapes

process by which Cézanne translated his

conjured up his idyllic youth spent swim-

Locals venerated it for its legendary ties to

of seventeenth-century painters such as

sensory experience of nature — its color,

antiquity — its very name had come to be

Nicolas Poussin, whom Cézanne greatly

light, and spatial dimensions — onto the

associated with a celebrated victory by the

admired. With its harmonious palette of

two-dimensional picture plane. As he

ancient Romans against invading Teutonic

greens and blues and an all-encompassing

armies — while the paleontological excavations on its slopes by Cézanne’s friend

concert

ming in the River Arc with Zola, Baille,

tive, leaving passages that are seemingly

a group, the three Large Bathers act as

and others.

unresolved despite the thick layering of

Cézanne’s last great artistic testament.

West Building, West Garden Court Sunday, April 9, 2006

The theme of nude figures in a land-

paint. The Large Bathers is a shocking

noted late in life, “To read nature is to see

scape enjoyed a long tradition in the his-

picture, not least because of the artist’s

declared, “I have sworn to myself to die

vista, the painting captures the tranquil

it…by means of color patches, following

tory of European painting. Its arcadian

willful disregard for human anatomy and

painting.” Within a month, he fell sick

beauty of Cézanne’s corner of Provence in

upon each other according to a law of

imagery can be traced back to ancient

classical notions of beauty. The rawness of

after being caught in the rain for several

harmony….To paint is to record the sensa-

literature, especially the writings of Vir-

its aesthetic alarmed many contemporary

hours while painting outdoors. He died

tions of color.”

gil, which Cézanne knew well from his

viewers. Yet it is also a supremely serene

in Aix a few days later at the age of sixty-

fig. 9

school days. By addressing the subject in

image, constructed with lushly applied,

seven, on the eve of a revolution in art that

monumental paintings, Cézanne staked

radiant colors and filled with light. As

his work had firmly set in motion.

After his family sold the Jas de Bouffan

his claim as a successor to the old masters.

in 1899, Cézanne moved back into the

At the same time, all three versions of the

city. However, the studio in his apart-

Large Bathers are radically modern paint-

outside of Aix. Quite distinct from the

ment could not accommodate the most

ings. As evidenced by the Large Bathers

the bay of L’Estaque executed two years

earlier classical views of Sainte-Victoire,

ambitious project of his final years: three

from London, 1894 – 1905 (f i g . 1 1 ),

earlier. It was his personal, living Arcadia.

these intense images draw their power

monumental scenes of bathers in a land-

Cézanne daringly dispensed with conven-

from animated brushwork and vivid color-

ings of Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne’s

ing, often with passages left unpainted.

obsession with the mountain reached its

In Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen from

culmination. Between 1902 and 1906,

Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904 (f i g . 9 ), motifs

he painted nine major oils and numerous

such as the mountain, trees, and houses

watercolors from virtually the same spot,

are constructed out of patches of color

a hillside above his studio at Les Lauves

that create a faceted pattern on the verge

In 1906, writing to his son, Cézanne

at e l i e r d e s l au v e s

a manner reminiscent of the paintings of

It is in his late, extraordinary paint-

fig. 7

fig. 11

scape. He acquired a plot of land north of

tional ideas of draftsmanship and perspec-

introductory s l i d e ov e r v i e w s West Building Lecture Hall fi g . 1 . The Artist’s Father, Reading

fi g . 5 . Gardanne, c. 1886, oil on can-

fi g . 9 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire Seen

“L’Événement,” 1866, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

vas, Brooklyn Museum, Ella C. Woodward Memorial Fund and the Alfred T. White Memorial Fund 23.105

from Les Lauves, 1902 – 1904, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art; The George W. Elkins Collection

fi g . 2 . The House of the Jas de Bouffan,

fi g . 6 . Bibémus Quarry, c. 1895, oil on

fi g . 1 0 . Cézanne painting at Les

c. 1874, oil on canvas, Private Collection, Courtesy of Wildenstein & Co., New York

canvas, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Lauves, January 1906, photograph by Ker-Xavier Roussel, National Gallery of Art, Gallery Archives, Rewald Papers

fi g . 3 . Cardplayers, 1890 – 1899, oil on

canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, Bequest of the Comte Isaac de Camondo, 1911

Were it not that I am deeply in love with the landscape of my country, I should not be here. april 30, 1896

A concert presented in honor of Cézanne in Provence begins at 6:30 p.m. The Eusia String Quartet and pianist James Dick will perform a string quartet by Claude Debussy and a piano quintet by Gabriel Fauré. Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. First-come, first-seated admission begins at 6:00 p.m.

fi g . 4 . The Gulf of Marseille Seen

from L’Estaque, c. 1885, Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.67)

fi g . 7. Château Noir, 1900 – 1904, oil

on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer fi g . 8 . Montagne Sainte-Victoire,

c. 1887, oil on canvas, The Samuel Courtauld Trust, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London

fi g . 1 1 . Large Bathers, 1894 – 1905,

oil on canvas, The National Gallery, London cover : L’Estaque: Rocks, Pines, and Sea, 1883 – 1885, oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe

A thirty-minute slide orientation will be offered on a regular basis. Please consult the Calendar of Events for schedules and call 202.842.6247 if additional information is needed.

February 5, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Between Capital and Province Nina Kallmyer, professor of art history, University of Delaware February 12, 2:00 p.m. The Lizard in the Landscape John Elderfield, Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art March 26, 2:00 p.m. Cézanne: Impressionist? John House, Walter H. Annenberg Professor, Courtauld Institute of Art May 6, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Cézanne’s Provence Illustrated lectures by noted scholars address Cézanne’s Provence

audio guide An audio tour is available at the entrance to the exhibition for $5. Narrated by National Gallery director Earl A. Powell III , this tour includes commentary by curator Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, and Cézanne scholars Mary Tompkins Lewis, visiting associate professor of fine arts at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, and Joseph J. Rishel, curator of European painting before 1900, Philadelphia Museum of Art. To reserve audio tours for groups, call 202.842.6592.

on the web The Gallery’s Web site features selected highlights from the exhibition and links to exhibitionrelated activities at www.nga. gov/exhibitions/cezanneinfo.htm

Cézanne in Provence

g e n e r a l i n f o r m at i o n Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Gallery Web site: www.nga.gov For information about accessibility to galleries and public areas, assistive listening devices, sign-language interpretation, and other services and programs, inquire at the art information desk, consult the Web site, or call 202.842.6690 (TDD line 202.842.6176). Admission to the National Gallery of Art and all of its programs is free of charge, except as noted. The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Musée Granet and the Communauté du Pays d’Aix, Aix-en-Provence, and the Réunion des musées nationaux, Paris.   It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. This brochure was written by Margaret Doyle and produced by the Department of Exhibition Programs and the Publishing Office. Copyright © 2006 Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

n a t i o n a l g a l l e r y o f a r t , w a s h i n g t o n | j a n u a r y 2 9  –  m a y 7, 2 0 0 6

This exhibition is made possible by a generous grant from the DaimlerChrysler Corporation Fund.