Cezanne's Early Imagery

By Mary Tompkins Lewis

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Release date: Dec 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9780520322134

Mary Tompkins Lewis

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CEZANNE'S

EARLY

IMAGERY

Paul Cézanne in 1861, photograph.

CEZANNE'S

EARLY

IMAGERY

Mary Tompkins Lewis

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON

The publishers wish to acknowledge with gratitude the contribution provided from the Art Book Fund of the Associates of the University of California Press, which is supported by a major gift of the Ahmanson Foundation.

University of California Press

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

University of California Press, Ltd.

London, England

© 1989 by

The Regents of the University of California

Lewis, Mary Tompkins.

Cézanne’s early imagery/Mary Tompkins Lewis.

p. cm.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

ISBN 0-520-06561-1 (alk. paper)

ISBN 0-520-06563-8 (pbk.)

1. Cézanne, Paul, 1839-1906—Criticism and interpretation.

I. Title.

ND553.C33L464 1989

759.4—-dc!9 88-27745

CIP

Printed in the United States of America 123456789

For Jim and Brian

Contents

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

A Note on the Sources

INTRODUCTION The Critical History

I POETIC SOIL The Background of Provence

II FAITH AND DEATH Vernacular Traditions in the Early Works

III RESURRECTION AND REPENTANCE La Madeleine et le Christ aux limbes

PATRIARCHS AND PROTAGONISTS Biblical Images and the Context of Romanticism

OUTCAST AT THE FEAST Cézanne’s Picnics and the Art of the Fête-Galante

THE IDEAL OF THE REAL Early Essays in Genre

VII SAVAGERY REDEEMED A Reinterpretation of L'Enlèvement

THE LANDSCAPE OF TEMPTATION Literature and Music in the Fantasies of 1870

IX FORM AS SUBJECT The Transitional Years

BIOGRAPHICAL, CULTURAL, AND HISTORICAL OUTLINE, 1839 — 1874

NOTES

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

List of Illustrations

Unless otherwise noted, all works are oil on canvas. Where possible, works by Cézanne are identified by Venturi, Chappuis, or Rewald catalogue number. See Note on the Sources, p. xxi.

COLOR PLATES follow page 138

PLATE ï. Paul Cézanne, Nature morte: Crâne et chandelier. Private collection. V. 61.

PLATE it. Paul Cézanne, La Madeleine. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V. 86. Photo: Scala/Art Resource.

PLATE in. Paul Cézanne, Loth et ses filles. Private collection, Aix-en- Provence. Non-V.

PLATE IV. A. Paul Cézanne, Picnic on a River. Yale University Art Gallery, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, B.A. 1929. Non-V.

B. Antoine Watteau, Le Dénicheur de moineaux. National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh.

PLATE V. Paul Cézanne, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, gift of Walter-Guillaume. V. 238.

PLATE vi. Paul Cézanne, Portrait de l’artiste. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V. 288. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource.

PLATE vu. Paul Cézanne, La Toilette funéraire. Private collection. V. 105.

PLATE vin. Paul Cézanne, La Lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola. Private collection, Switzerland. V. 118.

IX

PLATE ix. Paul Cézanne, Jeune Fille au piano: L'Ouverture du Tannhäuser. The State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad. V. 90. By permission of Sovfoto, New York.

PLATE X. Paul Cézanne, L'Enlèvement. Reproduced by permission of the Provost and Fellows of King’s College, Cambridge (Keynes Collection), on loan to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. V. 101.

PLATE xi. Paul Cézanne, study for Le Festin (L’Orgie), pencil, crayon, pastel, and gouache. Private collection, Stuttgart. RWC 23.

PLATE XU. Paul Cézanne, La Tentation de Saint Antoine. Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich. V. 103.

PLATE Xin. Paul Cézanne, Les Baigneuses. Private collection. Non-V.

PLATE XIV. Paul Cézanne, LTdylle (Pastorale). Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V. 104.

PLATE XV. Paul Cézanne, La Neige fondue à L'Estaque. Mrs. H. Anda-Bührle Collection, Zurich. V. 51.

PLATE XVI. Paul Cézanne, La Maison du pendu. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V. 133. Photo: Scala/Art Resource.

PLATE XVII. Paul Cézanne, Scène fantastique. Private collection. V. 243.

PLATE XVIII. Paul Cézanne, La Lutte d’amour (The Battle of Love). National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman. V. 380.

BLACK-AND-WHITE FIGURES

FRONTISPIECE. Paul Cézanne in 1861, photograph.

FIGURE 1. Renéd'Anjou, engraving from Grégoire, Explication des cérémonies de la fête-Dieu d’Aix, 1777. page 12

FIGURE 2. The Poets of Provence, anonymous engraving, LTllustration [Paris] (20 September 1852): 180. General Research Division, The New York Public Library; Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, page 14

FIGURE 3. Paul Cézanne, Portrait of Emile Zola. Present location unknown. V. 19. page 16

FIGURE 4. Louis Finson, La Madeleine en extase. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille. Photo: Jean Bernard, page 18

FIGURE 5. Jean Daret, Portrait de l’artiste en guitariste. Musée Granet, Aix, gift of Dr. Arnaud, 1846. page 18

FIGURE 6. Jean Daret, Diane découvrant la grossesse de Callisto. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille. Photo: Jean Bernard, page20

FIGURE 7. Paul Cézanne, Baigneuses devant la tente. Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. V. 543. page 21

FIGURE 8. Paul Cézanne, Moïse, pencil and pen. Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris. page 31

FIGURE 9. Leis Tirassouns, pl. vi from Grégoire, Explication des cérémonies de la fête-Dieu d’Aix, Y71—!. page 32

FIGURE 10. Lou Juéc d’oou cat, pl. ni from Grégoire, Explication des cérémonies de la fête-Dieu d’Aix, 1777. page 33

FIGURE 11. Lou Pichoun juéc deis diablés, pl. 11 from Grégoire, Explication des cérémonies de la fête-Dieu dAix, 1777. page 35

FIGURE 12. Paul Cézanne, Studies, including man beating a bass drum, pencil and pen, detail. Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Ch. 24. page 36

FIGURE 13. Fête-Dieu têtière of Mouért. Musée du Vieil Aix, Aix. Photo: Author, page 38

FIGURE 14. La Mouért, pl. x from Grégoire, Explication des cérémonies de la fête-Dieu d’Aix, 1777. page 39

FIGURE 15. Michel-François Dandré-Bardon, L’Adoration des crânes. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Lewis Einstein, 1956. page 41

FIGURE 16. Pillar from the sanctuaire aux crânes, Entremont. Musée Granet, Aix. page 42

FIGURE 17. Paul Cézanne, La Visitation. Private collection. V. 15. Photo: Speed Graphics, page 48

FIGURE 18. Paul Cézanne, La Madeleine et le Christ aux limbes, before the picture was divided. Photo: Speed Graphics, page49

FIGURE 19. Paul Cézanne, Le Christ aux limbes. Private collection. V. 84.

Photo: Speed Graphics, page50

FIGURE 20. Engraving after Sebastiano del Piombo’s Le Christ aux limbes, from Charles Blanc, Ecole espagnole, page 51

FIGURE 21. Domenico Feti, La Mélancolie. Musée du Louvre, Paris, page 52

FIGURE 22. Caspar de Crayer, Le Christ et les pécheurs repentants. Eglise de Notre-Dame, Beaune, page57

FIGURE 23. Paul Cézanne, Woman Reading, pencil and wash. Private collection. Ch. 56. page 58

FIGURE 24. Paul Cézanne, Woman Reading Outdoors, pencil. Private collection. Ch. 281. page 58

FIGURE 25. Paul Cézanne, studies of a mourning woman, pencil and watercolor. Private collection, New York. Non-Ch. page 59

FIGURE 26. Hans Fries, Living Cross. Fribourg, page 61

FIGURE 27. Paul Cézanne, Job et ses amis, pencil and brush with brown wash. Private collection. Ch. 166. page 66

FIGURE 28. Spanish School, 17th century, Job. The Art Institute of Chicago, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey McCormick, page 67

FIGURE 29. Paul Cézanne, copy after Dubufe’s Le Prisonnier de Chillon. Private collection. Non-V. Photo: Jim Strong, page 70

FIGURE 30. Eugène Delacroix, La Mort de Sardanapale. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 72

FIGURE 31. Agostino Carracci, Loth et ses filles, engraving. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, gift of Henry Walters, 1917 (17.37.173). page 73

FIGURE 32. Attributed to Gabriel Metsu, Loth et ses filles. Musée Granet, Aix, gift of Bourguignon de Fabregoules, 1860. page 75

FIGURE 33. Paul Cézanne, copy after Veronese’s L'Incendie de Sodome, one of Lot’s daughters, pencil, detail. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kupferstichkabinett, Basel. Ch. 170. page 77

FIGURE 34. Paolo Veronese, L'lncendie de Sodome. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 77

FIGURE 35. Paul Cézanne, page of figure studies, pencil and pen, detail. The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Mrs. Charles B. Nunnally. Ch. 57. page 78 .

FIGURE 36. Simon Vouet, Loth et ses filles. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 79

FIGURE 37. Prosper Grésy, Baigneuses. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Marseille. page 86

FIGURE 38. Paul Cézanne, Feuillage et scènes champêtres, painted screen. Private collection. V. 3. Photo: Speed Graphics, page 89

FIGURE 39. Paul Cézanne, La Conversation. Private collection. V. 231. Photo: Jim Strong. page90

FIGURE 40. Paul Cézanne, La Partie de campagne, pencil and watercolor.

Private collection. RWC 46. Photo: Jim Strong, page 92

FIGURE 41. Antoine Watteau, La Perspective (View through the Trees in the Park of Pierre Crozat). Marie Antoinette Evans Fund. Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, page 93

FIGURE 42. Antoine Watteau, L’Assemblée dans un parc. Musée du Louvre, Paris, page 95

FIGURE 43. Antoine Watteau, La Gamme d’amour. Reproduced by courtesy of the Trustees, The National Gallery, London, page 95

FIGURE 44. François Boucher, Pense-t-il aux raisins? The Art Institute of Chicago, Martha E. Leverone Endowment, 1973.304. page96

FIGURE 45. Antoine Watteau, La Collation. Oskar Reinhart Collection "Am

Römerholz," Winterthur, page 97

FIGURE 46. Frédéric Bazille, Réunion de famille sur la terrasse de Méric. Musée du Petit-Palais, Geneva, page 98

FIGURE 47. Edouard Manet, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page99

FIGURE 48. James Tissot, Holyday. The Tate Gallery, London, page 100

FIGURE 49. Paul Cézanne, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Private collection. V. 107.

Photo: Speed Graphics, page loi

FIGURE 50. Paul Cézanne, Une Moderne Olympia. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V.

225. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 106

FIGURE 51. Paul Cézanne, study for Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, pencil and watercolor. Private collection. RWC 47. Photo: Jim Strong, page 108

FIGURE 52. Paul Cézanne, L'Etang (Couples Resting by a Pond). Tompkins Collection, Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. V. 232. page 110

FIGURE 53. Paul Cézanne, Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe. Private collection. V. 377.

Photo: Jim Strong, page 111

FIGURE 54. Paul Cézanne, Jeune Fille en méditation, on board. Private collection. Non-V. Photo: Jim Strong, page ns

FIGURE 55. Paul Cézanne, Tête de vieillard, detail. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V.

17. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 120

FIGURE 56. Robe of a penitential order. Musée du Vieil Aix, Aix. Photo: Author, page 120

FIGURE 57. Théodule-Augustin Ribot, Les Deux Novices. Mr. and Mrs. Noah L. Butkin, Cleveland. Photo: Shepherd Gallery Associates, page 121

FIGURE 58. Théodore Géricault, study after Tiarini’s Pietà, black chalk. On extended loan as a promised gift from John D. Reilly, ‘63. The Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. Photo: Shepherd Gallery Associates, page 123

FIGURE 59. Paul Cézanne, study after Fra Bartolommeo della Porta’s Christ au tombeau, pencil. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kupferstichkabinett, Basel. Ch. 171. page 124

FIGURE 60. Fra Bartolommeo della Porta, Christ au tombeau, black chalk.

Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris, page 125

FIGURE 61. Eugène Delacroix, study for a mise-au-tombeau. Cabinet des

Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 126 FIGURE 62. Paul Cézanne, study after Delacroix’s mise-au-tombeau at

St. Denis-du-Saint-Sacrement, soft pencil. Private collection. Ch. 167. page 127

FIGURE 63. Jusepe de Ribera, Le Christ au tombeau. Musée du Louvre, Paris, page 128

FIGURE 64. Copy after Jusepe de Ribera, Le Christ au tombeau. Schlossmuseum, Museen der Stadt, Gotha, page 128

FIGURE 65. Jan Horemans, Les Joueurs de cartes. Musée Granet, Aix, gift of Bourguignon de Fabregoules, 1860. page 130

FIGURE 66. Paul Cézanne, Les Joueurs de cartes, pencil. Private collection. Ch. 36. page 131

FIGURE 67. Paul Cézanne, Scène dans un cabaret, pencil, detail. Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Ch. 59. page 132

FIGURE 68. Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Les Joueurs de cartes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, bequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900.25.110.39. page 133

FIGURE 69. Paul Cézanne, La Femme au perroquet. Private collection. V. 99.

Photo: Speed Graphics, page 134

FIGURE 70. Paul Cézanne, Fillette à la perruche. The Barnes Foundation, Merion. Copyright retained by the Barnes Foundation. V. 98. page 135

FIGURE 71. Engraving after Gaspard Netscher, La Femme au perroquet, from Charles Blanc, Ecole hollandaise, page 136

FIGURE 72. Engraving after Gerard Dou, La Ménagère, from Charles Blanc,

Ecole hollandaise, page 136

FIGURE 73. Paul Cezanne, study for La Lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, pencil. Private collection. Ch. 220. page 140

FIGURE 74. Paul Cezanne, study for La Lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, pencil. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kupferstichkabinett, Basel. Ch. 222. page 140

FIGURE 75. Paul Cézanne, study for La Lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, pencil. Location unknown. Ch. 221. page 141

FIGURE 76. Jan Steen, La Leçon de clavecin. Reproduced by permission of the Trustees, The Wallace Collection, London, page 142

FIGURE 77. Engraving after Gabriel Metsu, Hollandaise au clavecin, from

Charles Blanc, Ecole hollandaise, page 142

FIGURE 78. James A. McNeill Whistler, Au piano. The Taft Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, bequest of Mrs. Louise Taft Semple, 1962. page 143

FIGURE 79. Edouard Manet, Mme Manet au piano. Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 143

FIGURE 80. Paul Cézanne, copy after Adrien van Ostade’s La Famille. Private collection. Non-V. Photo: Jim Strong, page 144

FIGURE 81. Adrien van Ostade, La Famille, etching. Print collection, Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library. page 145

FIGURE 82. Paul Cézanne, sketch of a peasant woman, pencil. Private collection. Ch. 331. page 146

FIGURE 83. Jan Vermeer, Maidservant Pouring Milk. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. page 147

FIGURE 84. Paul Cézanne, Scène de violence, reed pen, ink, and wash. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kupferstichkabinett, Basel. Ch. 254. page 152

FIGURE 85. Paul Cézanne, La Femme étranglée. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, gift of

M. and R. Kaganovitch. V. 123. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 153

FIGURE 86. Paul Cézanne, Le Meurtre. The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

V. 121. page 154

FIGURE 87. Paul Cézanne, The Amorous Shepherd with a Basket of Apples for His Lover (Le Jugement de Pâris). Location unknown. V. 537. Photo: Jim Strong, page 157

FIGURE 88. Paul Cézanne, copy after Delacroix’s La Médée, pencil and watercolor. Kunsthaus, Zurich. RWC 145. page 158

FIGURE 89. Paul Cézanne, study for L'Enlèvement, pen, india ink, and watercolor. Private collection. RWC 30. Photo: M. Knoedler and Co. page I60

FIGURE 90. Niccolo dell'Abbate, L'Enlèvement de Proserpine. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page I60

FIGURE 91. Nicolas Poussin, Echo et Narcisse. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 162

FIGURE 92. Paul Cézanne, study for L'Enlèvement, pencil, detail. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Kupferstichkabinett, Basel. Ch. 199. page 163

FIGURE 93. Alexandre Cabanel, Nymphe enlevée par un faune. Musée des

Beaux-Arts, Lille, page 165

FIGURE 94. Paul Cézanne, Satyres et nymphes. Location unknown. V. 94.

Photo: Jim Strong, page 166

FIGURE 95. Peter Paul Rubens, Ixion trompé par Junon. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 167

FIGURE 96. Paul Cézanne, Nymphe et tritons. Private collection. Non-V.

Photo: Jim Strong, page 168

FIGURE 97. Jules-Elie Delaunay, Mort du centaure Nessus. Shepherd Gallery

Associates, New York, page 169

FIGURE 98. Paul Cézanne, Le Festin. Private collection. V. 92. Photo: Speed Graphics, page 174

FIGURE 99. Paul Cézanne, La Préparation du banquet. Courtesy Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York. V. 586. page 176

FIGURE 100. Thomas Couture, Les Romains de la décadence. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 178

FIGURE 101. Paolo Veronese, Les Noces de Cana. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 179

FIGURE 102. Eugène Delacroix, Héliodore chassé du temple. Eglise de St. Sul- pice, Paris. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page iso

FIGURE 103. Paul Cézanne, La Tentation de Saint Antoine. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. V. 241. Photo: Giraudon/Art Resource, page 184

FIGURE 104. Henri Fantin-Latour, Tannhäuser: Venusberg. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. page 188

FIGURE 105. Paul Cézanne, Le Village des pêcheurs à L'Estaque. Private collection. V. 55. page 198

FIGURE 106. Paul Cézanne, Les Courtisanes (Four Women). The Barnes Foundation, Merion. Copyright retained by the Barnes Foundation. V. 122. page 199

FIGURE 107. Paul Cézanne, Une Moderne Olympia. Private collection. V. 106. Photo: Speed Graphics. page202

FIGURE 108. Paul Cézanne, study after Concert champêtre, pencil, watercolor, and gouache. Cabinet des Dessins, Musée du Louvre, Paris. RWC 65. Photo: Jim Strong. page206

Acknowledgments

In preparing this study I have been assisted by numerous scholars, librarians, curators, and friends. But my primary debt is to Sir Lawrence Gowing, whose lectures on Cézanne I was privileged to attend at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1977. The present topic evolved from a seminar paper I wrote for him that term, which was subsequently published in the Gazette des beaux-arts; it now constitutes the core of chapter m. My Ph.D. dissertation, Cézanne’s Religious Imagery, expanded that study to include other early works with religious or spiritual subjects. This book substantially enlarges that focus and discusses the painter’s early subject matter as a whole. Throughout my study, Gowing has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement; it was at his invitation that chapter vm appearedinhis 1988 exhibition catalogue Cézanne: The Early Years, 1859-1872. I hasten to add, however, that he may not agree with everything put forth in these pages.

I also offer my warmest thanks to Professor John Rewald, whose generous help in assembling the necessary photographs made this study possible, and whose meticulous editing made it a great deal more accurate. To Professor John McCoubrey my thanks are due for his many insights and suggestions. I am indebted to the Art History Department at the University of Pennsylvania for support throughout my years in graduate school, and especially for a Kress fellowship in 1978 and 1979 and a travel grant in the summer of 1980. I am also grateful for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

In Aix-en-Provence, I was graciously assisted by a number of people: the late Louis Malbos, the conservateur honoraire du Musée Granet, whose kindness and thorough knowledge of art in Aix and also of Mistral were of inestimable value; Bernos La Dione, conservateur du Musée du Vieil Aix; Frère Pierre Desplanches, professeur de lettres honoraire, a member of the pénitents gris; and the staffs at the Bibliothèque Méjanes and Musée Paul-Arbaud.

For help in tracing iconographie and vernacular sources, I am especially indebted to M. Monestier, director of the Iconothèque at the Musée des Arts et Traditions Populaires, Paris, to Dr. Michael Evans of the Warburg Photographic Collection, and to the staff at the Princeton Iconographie Index.

At the Frick Art Reference Library and the New York Public Library I have been helped immensely by the library staffs. I should also thank my seminar students at the University of Pennsylvania, Drew, and Colgate universities for providing both a forum and stimulating criticism for my ideas.

Most recently, I am deeply grateful to Henry Millon and his extremely able staff at the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. It was indeed an honor to complete this study there as a visiting Senior Fellow. Special acknowledgment is also due to Kathleen T. Mang, Curator of the Rosenwald Collection, the Library of Congress, and to Mary Anne Stevens of the Royal Academy.

It has been a consistent pleasure to work with Charlene Woodcock at the University of California Press—her faith in this project sometimes exceeded my own—and with Fronia Simpson of Wilsted & Taylor. Finally, I must thank Maggie Murray and Sara Montague, whose tireless efforts to improve this manuscript often verged on collaboration, and, above all, my husband, Jim, who has sustained me in this and in so much else.

New York City

July 1988

A Note on the Sources

Throughout the text and notes, numerical annotations and references to the following catalogues raisonnés are used:

V. Lionello Venturi, Cézanne, son art—son oeuvre. 2 vols. Paris: Rosenberg, 1936.

Ch. Adrien Chappuis, The Drawings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné. 2 vols. Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, 1973.

RWC John Rewald, Paul Cézanne, The Watercolors: A Catalogue Raisonné. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983.

INTRODUCTION

The Critical History

CEZANNE'S BIOGRAPHERS have served his early history well. The precipitous events and tumultuous emotions of his first decades—his idyllic youth in Aix and boyhood friendship with Emile Zola, his adolescent sexual longings, loneliness, and self-pity, his struggles against an obdurate, bourgeois father, his ardent commitment to painting and repeated attempts to engage and yet affront the annual spring Salon in Paris—have been recounted so often and so vividly as to need no retelling here. Equally well known is the persona that Cézanne, like Courbet, carefully cultivated for himself in Paris—a crude, brusque provincial, ill at ease with his fellow painters and the critics he met at the Café Guerbois, the hothouse of Impressionism. I do not shake your hand, he reportedly told the sophisticated Manet; I have not washed for a week. Such mannerisms were celebrated by Zola in the fictional character of the painter Claude Lan- tier, the tragic hero of his novel L’Oeuvre (1886), whom he based in part on his early memories of Cézanne. Ironically, however, the heroic image of the intense young romantic artist—the brash Provençal—struggling to realize his most passionate visions has long overshadowed the real paintings on which such perceptions must ultimately rest. Despite the wealth of critical literature his later painting has generated, Cézanne’s first works