Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne, fils, Paris (in 1937)

Sale: Galerie Charpentier, Paris, June 16, 1953, lot 22

Daniel Varenne, Switzerland

Knoedler Galleries, New York (1966)

Mrs. Phillip D. Armour, Lake Forest, Illinois & Palm Beach, Florida, (sold: Trosby's, Palm Beach, February 27-28, 1973, lot 37)

Galerie Tamenaga, Tokyo & Paris

Richard L. Feigen Gallery, New York

Acquired from the above

Paris, Galerie de la Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Naissance de l'impressionnisme, 1937, no. 83

New York, Finch College Museum of Art, French Landscape Painting from Four Centuries, 1966, no. 41

 

Lionello Venturi, Cézanne, son art, son oeuvre, vol. I, Paris, 1936, no. 36, p. 75; vol. II, illustrated pl. 8

John Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne, vol. I, New York, 1996, no. 49, p. 77; vol. II, illustrated p. 18

Very good condition. The paint layer has some heavy cracking due to the nature of the thick medium, but the surface is stable. Under UV, there are some tiny, insignificant specks of retouching in the sky.
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.

An exceptionally verdant view of the Provençal landscape is Cézanne's focus in this rare canvas from the mid-1860s.  The abundance of surface texture, invoking the sensory appeal of the landscape, is achieved with thick layers of paint applied by palette knife and broad, vigorous strokes.  It is as if Cézanne was so overwhelmed with the richness of what he saw that he needed to capture it by means of more than just his paintbrush.   John Rewald provided the following analysis of the artist's working method: "The foreground is of an extremely bright and 'troweled' green, and the mountains are of a uniform gray, whereas the lightly clouded sky seems executed with a palette knife  In other places, particularly the foliage and shadows of the very dark trees, the artist appears to have used a small spatula" (J. Rewald, op. cit., p. 87).

 

Lawrence Gowling wrote the following about this early period in Cézanne's career: "Cézanne was the first man [among the Impressionists], perhaps the first man in history, to realize the necessity for the manner in which paint is handled to build up a homogenous and consistent pictorial structure.   This is the invention of form in the French modernist sense - meaning the condition of paint that constitutes a pictorial structure.  It is the discovery of an intrinsic structure inherent in the medium and the material" (L. Gowing, Cézanne, les années de jeunesse, 1859-1872, (exhibition catalogue), Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1988, p. 10).