PAUL CEZANNE
65 Still Life
Watercolor and graphite; H: 48 cm (i8I5/i6 in.); W: 63.1
cm (24^7 /s in.)
83.GC.22i (SEE PLATE9)MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: None.
PROVENANCE: Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin; Werner Feuz,
Zurich; Gottfried Tanner, Zurich; Jacques Seligmann,
Paris and New York; Lord SiefFof Brimpton; sale, Soth-
eby's, London, April 26, 1967, lot 18; Norton Simon, Los
Angeles (sale, Parke-Bernet, New York, May 2, 1973, lot
9); Goury, Geneva(P); sale, Sotheby's, London, July i,
1980 , lot 5; Alain Delon, Geneva.EXHIBITIONS: Das Stilleben in der deutschen und franz'o-
sischen Malerei, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin, 1927. Water-
colors by Cezanne, Jacques Seligmann Gallery, New York,
1933, no. i. Haus der Kunst, Munich, 1956, no. 93. Paul
Cezanne 1839-1906, Kunsthaus, Zurich, August-
October 1956, no. 210. A Great Period of French Painting,
Marlborough Galleries, London, June-July 1963, no. 6.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Bierman, "Review of Das Stilleben
in der deutschen und franzosischen Malerei" Der Cicerone 19
(1927), p. 151; L. Venturi, Cezanne: Son art—son oeuvre
(Paris, 1936), pp. 51, 285, no. 1147; R. W. Murphy, The
World of Cezanne (Leningrad, 1975), p. i8i;J. Rewald,
Paul Cezanne: The Watercolors—A Catalogue Raisonne
(Boston, 1983), p. 233, no. 572.THIS IS ONE OF A SMALL GROUP OF LARGE WATER-
colors with still-life subjects from the latter part of Ce-
zanne's career. In technique it is perhaps the most finished
of these and possesses the monumentality of his paint-
ings. Among the still-life watercolors it is closest to one
in the Ford collection, Grosse Pointe Shores (Rewald
1983 , no. 571). Basing his opinion on a supposed lack of
a pencil underdrawing, Rewald has argued that the Mu-
seum's watercolor followed the latter and represents an
attempt to improve upon its arrangement of forms
(1983, nos. 571-572). In fact there is a considerable
amount of free pencil drawing below the watercolor; in-
deed it is visible in every section except the background
wall and wainscot. This does not entirely invalidate Re-
wald's theory, however, and it may well be that the Mu-
seum's watercolor represents a later stage in the evolution
of Cezanne's thinking, especially as it appears more fully
evolved and concentrated than the Ford sheet. The
watercolor is noteworthy not only for its scale, degree of
finish, and overall quality but also for its exceptional state
of preservation. It was dated to 1895-1900 by Venturi
(1936, no. 1147), who then revised the date to 1900-
1905 , and by Rewald to 1900-1906 (1983, p. 233).I5O FRENCH SCHOOL • CEZANNE