Cézanne, Paul: Portraits
Even Cézanne's pictures of people can be regarded as still lifes, because
he demanded that his models sit absolutely still. Sitting for him was
something of a nightmare. Not only was he foul-tempered, he was an
extremely slow painter, probably the reason his subjects always look tired
and sombre. Ambroise Vollard, the dealer who arranged Cézanne's first
one-man show a century ago, posed 115 times for a single painting, sitting
absolutely still "like an apple" and then Cézanne, dissatisfied,
abandoned the picture with only two unpainted spots remaining. He told
Vollard that with luck he would find the correct color and could finish
the painting. "The prospect of this made me tremble," noted Vollard in
his biography of the painter. In the artist's eye, there was no difference
between a human sitter and a bowl of fruit, except that the reflection
value and the palette were different. In the end, both his subjects and
his fruit wilted.
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Portrait of the Artist's Father
c. 1866 (170 Kb);
Oil on canvas, 198.5 x 119.3 cm (78 1/8 x 47 in);
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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Portrait de Victor Chocquet
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Chocquet Seated
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Hortense Fiquet in a Striped Skirt
1877-78 (160 Kb); Oil on canvas, 72.5 x 56 cm (28 1/2 x 22");
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Venturi no. 292
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Le paysan (Peasant)
c. 1891 (130 Kb); Oil on canvas, 56 x 46 cm (22 x 18 1/8");
Private collection; Venturi no. 567
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Boy in a Red Vest (Garçon au gilet rouge)
1888-90 (130 Kb); Oil on canvas, 65.7 x 54.7 cm (25 7/8 x 21 1/2 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
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Woman in a Red-Striped Dress
1892-96 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 93.2 x 73 cm (36 3/4 x 28 3/4 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
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Seated Peasant
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Portrait of Gustave Geffroy
Geffroy, Gustave
(1855-1926)
A radical journalist who commenced his career on Clemenceau's paper
Justice. His literary activities later took many forms;
he wrote extensively about current political and social injustices
and published a number of novels with a strongly
Realist bent.
His interest in painting and especially in
Impressionism
was kindled by a visit he paid to
Manet's studio in 1876,
as a consequence of which he came into contact with all the other
artists of the group, as well as
Rodin,
and maintained an on-going
correspondance with most of them. His closest connection was with
Monet, whom he first met at Belle-Ile
in 1886 and about whom, some 30 years later, he wrote a book --
Claude Monet, sa vie, son temps, son oeuvre (1824) --
which is still valuable in many ways.
All his writings about Impressionism are significant and amongst the
most intelligently perceptive of his time. His articles about
contemporary art were collected in the eight volumes of
La Vie artistique, published between 1892 and 1903,
the third volume, entitled
Histoire de l'impressionisme,
being the most comprehensive book about the movement that had so far
appeared. It consisted of a historical opening section followed
by individual chapters devoted to each artist. He also wrote
introductions to the catalogues of one-person exhibitions by
Pissarro, Monet, Rodin and
Morisot,
as well as to that of the sale of the
Burty
collection. He ended his career as the director of the Gobelins
tapestry factory.
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Child with Straw Hat
1896 (220 Kb); Oil on canvas, 81 x 65 cm (31 7/8 x 25 5/8 in);
Galerie Yoshii, Tokyo; Venturi no. 698
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Joachim Gasquet
1896 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 65.5 x 54.5 cm (25 7/8 x 21 3/8");
Narodni Galerie, Prague;
Venturi no. 694
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Portrait of Henri Gasquet
c. 1896-97 (130 Kb); Oil on canvas, 56.2 x 47 cm (22 1/8 x 18 1/2 in);
McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, TX
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Jeune homme à la tête de mort
1896-98 (130 Kb); Boy with Skull;
Oil on canvas, 130.2 x 97.3 cm (51 1/4 x 38 1/4 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
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Portrait of Ambroise Vollard
1899 (140 Kb); Oil on canvas, 100.3 x 81.3 cm (39 1/2 x 32 in);
Musee du Petit Palais, Paris; Venturi 696
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Young Italian Girl Resting on Her Elbow
c. 1900 (150 Kb); Oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm (36 1/4 x 28 3/4 in);
Collection Dr. and Mrs. William Rosenthal, New York; Venturi 701
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Woman Seated in Blue
1900-02 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 88.5 x 72 cm (34 3/4 x 28 3/8");
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; Venturi no. 705
or: 1902-06; Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
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Portrait of Vallier
1906 (200 Kb); Oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm (25 5/8 x 21 1/4 in);
Private collection; Venturi 718
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Man in a Room
Oil on canvas, 80 x 57.2 cm (31 1/2 x 22 1/2 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
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The Drinker
Oil on canvas, 45.7 x 37.5 cm (18 x 14 3/4 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
© 30 Dec 1995,
Nicolas Pioch -
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