Paul Cézanne

Ambroise Vollard, Paris

McNeill Reid, London

Reid & Lefevre, London

Pearson & Westergaard, London

Sam Salz, New York

Acquired from the above on June 16, 1952

London, Reid & Lefevre, Cézanne, Derain, Vicky, Guy, Masson, 1937, no. 10

Aix-en-Provence, Musée Granet & Grenoble, Musée de Grenoble, Cézanne: peintures, aquarelles, dessins, 1953, no. 36

New York, Fine Arts Associates (Otto Gerson), Cézanne, 1956, no. 4, illustrated in the catalogue

New York, Wildenstein & Co., Inc., Cézanne, 1959, no. 63, illustrated

Pasadena Art Museum, Cézanne Watercolors, 1967, no. 8, illustrated in the catalogue

Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Cézanne in the Studio, Still Life in Watercolor, 2004-05, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Lionello Venturi, Cézanne, son art, son oeuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1936, no. 1619, p. 344; vol. II, illustrated pl. 404

J. R. Mellow, "Cézanne Watercolors," Arts, New York, March 1956, illustrated p. 58

John Rewald, Paul Cézanne. The Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné, Boston, 1983, no. 195, catalogued pp. 132-33, illustrated

Very good condition. The sheet evidences no signs of tears, losses or distortions. The medium is well-preserved. There is some slight adhesive residue on the verso, and there is a faint crease at the top left quadrant that has been expertly smoothed. There is faint discoloration around the extreme periphery due to a previous mat, but overall the composition is in very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Using a relatively narrow range of elements, in every composition Cézanne rearranged them in such a way as to create a pictorial statement of remarkable grandeur and profundity. In each new composition, the artist viewed the objects at his disposal with a fresh eye, arranging them in unexpected ways, changing proportions and establishing new formal and spatial relationships. Pommes et poires exemplifies the subtle power of this series while also revealing the artist's unparalleled facility with watercolor as a medium.

With economic use of line and color, Cézanne is able to create a sense of space in this watercolor that transcends the sum of its parts. Gottfried Boehm has written on the Modernism of Cézanne's open forms: "Cézanne paid tribute to the idea of an 'open' work, which did not become an established notion until the twentieth century. This idea follows an aesthetic of the provisional, the amorphous. Today's viewers, familiar with works of Art Informel and Action Painting, automatism and so on, are inclined to project their experiences back on Cézanne's oeuvre. The history of his work's influence affects our perception of it, in some cases making us more sensitive to his problems and way of working" (Gottfried Boehm, "Precarious Balance: Cézanne and the Unfinished, in Cézanne: Finished, Unfinished (exhibition catalogue), Kunstforum, Vienna & Kunsthaus Zürich, 2000, p. 30).