THE JOCOSE CEZANNE

The majority of the phenomena which have been identified in this document contain a playful or humorous dimension a jocose quality occasionally exercised at the expense of the art establishment with which Cezanne developed a contentious relationship. The Joe in the title is, first and foremost, then, an abbreviation for the word jocose, and it additionally alludes to the fact that the painter who is being presented in the document is distinct from the Paul Cezanne with whom we are familiar. Since, as we will find, the artist affected a persona which was anything but precious a persona which was, in fact, purposefully commonplace the ordinary Joe is arguably an appropriate moniker for the Cezanne to whom we will be introduced, a moniker which would presumably have garnered the painters enthusiastic endorsement.

In Bonjour Cezanne, the author addressed the macroscopic fanciful phenomena which are present in Cezannes oeuvre, and in this, the successor volume, he has endeavored to examine the microscopic phenomena, or fanciful minutiae, which are present in the artists painting.

A rudimentary version of the document, sans chapters, has been posted at voilacezanne.tumblr.com, although a problem appears to have developed at the site and, unfortunately, it may longer be accessible to the public at that original location.

The present document is an adaptation of its Tumblr predecessor and is comprised of several components the manuscript proper, a collection of large format reproductions, and schematic diagrams which identify the phenomena which have been referenced in the text.

The manuscript remains under construction in the middle of October it is, in fact, a rough draft at the current juncture and in an effort to provide exposure for the volume, it and the accompanying documents have been posted at www.scribd.com/davidcboyle.

ANNOTATION

In an effort to preserve the integrity of the links which have been included in the volume, Joe Cezanne is being distributed as a Word document (docx). It should be converted into a PDF, however, opened in Adobe Reader an application which will permit enlargements of the modestly dimensioned prints of up to one thousand percent and examined in that digital environment. Inasmuch as the prints are of premium quality, the majority of the phenomena which have been addressed in the text will be accessible in those enlargements, and the aforeferenced links will provide a means for inspecting large format reproductions when there is a need for improved photographic fidelity. The document which contains the schematic diagrams can be opened, of course, in a separate window and can be consulted when appropriate.

(An alternate, and preferable, means of employing the materials especially for those who are examining the documents at Scribd would be to work with the reproductions in the accompanying collection and to utilize the links in the rare instances when those images are of inadequate quality.)

PART ONE

CHAPTER ONE

FIGURE 1. MALE PORTRAIT, 1862-64. 46 C 37 CM. REWALD 073. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI-PAINTINGS PHOTO)

We will commence this introductory survey of Cezannes oeuvre with a portrait of a young man which the artist executed in his early twenties, and in keeping with our limited interest, we will want to look to, and focus upon, the figure of the subjects nose, encountering in doing so an excellent example of the painters discursive inclinations and fanciful enthusiasms. As we examine the flank of the organ, along the right side of the image, we will find that there are some horizontal inflections of darker pigment amongst the predominantly vertical

brushstrokes in that area, and we will discover, as we proceed with our inspection of those ingredients, that the upper two inflections would constitute a pair of eyes and that the remaining, and underlying, inflection would represent a sizable, and dentally adorned, mouth. When we effect a closer inspection of the former ingredients, we will observe that the brushwork is uncommonly detailed in and about those inflections, and we will encounter, in fact, the irises and the circumscribing whites of the eyes in each of the carefully imparted images. As we follow the infrajacent disjunction in the color down the picture plane, we will identify the figure of a prominent, and appropriately highlighted, nose beneath the eyes, and proceeding lower still, we will apprehend the image of a complementary mouth in the aforeferenced third of the horizontal inflections which initially piqued our interest. Although we could, if so inclined, examine the circumscribing color in that quarter discerning the suggestion of a rudimentary hat on top of the head and the shoulders of the bust-like character along the base of the subjects nose we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the construction for the moment, and we need only perceive in the diminutive representation some incidental evidence of the fanciful divertissement in which the artist would engage in the painting of his formative years.

http://uploads7.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/portrait-of-a-man-18641.jpg

FIGURE 2. ANTONY VALABREGUE, 1866. 116 X 98 CM. REWALD 094. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the second of the pictures which we will consider in this chapter, a portrait of one of Cezannes youthful associates and a canvas which was allegedly delivered to the prestigious Salon in a wheelbarrow, we will find that the artist has expressed his wit in a decidedly visual and, unfortunately as it turns out, indelicate manner. In fact, as we zoom in on the representation along the base of the reproduction, we will discover that he has fashioned the hand on the right into the bust of a whimsically hatted and immoderately smiling character, an individual whose lower face and mouth have been obscured, of course, by the figure of an elevated hand. Although we will generally be ignoring the subject during the course of this introductory exposition, the hands in the artists po rtraits would routinely be subjected to such fanciful metamorphoses, typically with disruptive results, and the image before us will alert us to the existence of the manual modifications in question. As we look to and inspect the curious folds in the fabric across the figure of the contiguous lap, we will begin to appreciate the reason for the referenced embellishment and the likely rationale for the amused expression upon the diminutive characters countenance. In fact,

the shaft emerging from the subjects crotch would appear to represent a phallus or, more accurately, a priapus projecting off to the right along the side of the proximate hand, a representation which has been adorned, of course, with a profiled head at its terminus above the cuff of the sleeve of the jacket. Apparently, the artist was not content, in his announced intention to make the Salon jury blush with rage and despair, with simply executing the painting in a technically audacious and adventuresome manner.

As we look to and examine the figure of the subjects focal head, we will find, moreover, that he has imparted the coiffure in what might legitimately be characterized as a curiously contrived manner, and as we inspect the inflections of darker pigment in the amorphous arrangement of intermediate color above the left temple, we will discover that he has articulated the features of a casually imparted and loosely configured female face in that quarter, a representation which has been displayed horizontally across the top of the gentlemans pate. If that is a viable interpretation of the artists oblique intentions, the underlying arrangement of hair along the temple would represent a dangling right arm, the analogous configuration of darker color around the suprajacent visage would constitute a loosely conformed and broad brimmed hat, and the remainder of the hair on the head might be seen to describe the figures of an associated torso and lower body beneath the folds of a flowing dress. As we proceed with our survey of this colorful oeuvre, we will encounter many such fanciful constructions in the hair of the subjects heads in the artists numerous portraits including, of course, in some which are considered to be iconic paintings in the history of Western art although many of the conceptions will be significantly less ambitious and involved than the one under present discussion.

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.52389.html

FIGURE 3. STUDIO MODEL, C. 1867. 107 X 83 CM. REWALD 120. MUSEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the third and final picture which we will consider in this chapter, a study of a seated model and a painting which was executed at a studio which Cezanne frequented during his twenties, we will turn to and examine another sizable metamorphosis of the representations in these canvases, and in doing so, we will begin to appreciate the character, and characteristic disposition, of the artists visual wit. As we examine the brushwork across the upper back, in the vicinity of the right shoulder, we will discover, in fact, that Cezanne has delineated the figure of a profiled male head in that quarter, we will identify the suggestion of an associated, if loosely conformed, headpiece along the flank of the suprajacent neck, and we will discover, of course, that he has appropriated the infrajacent arm and converted it into the figures of a complementary torso and lower body beneath the head in the composite construction. The character in question may, in fact, be bearded, he is possessed of a pleasantly configured mouth, a strong nose, and a pair of close-knit eyes, and his slouched, even dissipated, posture might be seen to reflect some further evidence of the artists pervasive sense of humor. As we incline our heads to the right and consider

the chin along the base of the subjects countenance, we will encounter the image of another subordinate visage in that quarter of the representation, a construction in which recalling the conception in the preceding portrait the suprajacent nose would constitute the projecting brim of a headpiece. It is an adaptation of the objective particulars which we will encounter in many other representations of the human head in this oeuvre and a representational apparatus which we will explore in greater detail in discussing the concluding painting in the succeeding chapter.

http://masp.art.br/masp2010/acervo_detalheobra.php?id=253

CHAPTER TWO

FIGURE 4. FEMALE BATHER, C. 1869. 29 X 13 CM. REWALD 114. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)

In inspecting the portrait of one of the artists acquaintances in the previous chapter, we encountered the figure of a subordinate character diagonally aligned and festively accoutered across the top of the subjects pate, and as we pondered the disposition of the languidly reclining character, we came to appreciate the wit had been expressed in, and which had even presumably inspired, the fanciful metamorphosis of the image. In an effort to document the existence of an analogous expression of wit in the painting of Cezannes later

twenties and early thirties, we will turn to a modestly dimensioned study of a standing female bather, and we will focus upon the area around the figures inclined head. We will find, in fact, that the towel and the anomalous arrangement of lighter color along the top of the canvas are similar in tone to the flesh and the hair on the subjects head, and as we remove ourselves from the reproduction and effect a more abstracted consideration of the particulars, we will discover that the artist has transformed the representation into the figure of a significantly larger fanciful conception. The elliptical compartment of towel along the right side of the head would constitute the exposed cheek of the secondary construction, the flesh upon the forehead and across the lower portion of the countenance would designate the upper and lower lips around the crease in an associated mouth, imparted, of course, by the figures of the shaded eye sockets and the projection of lighter color above the bathers right wrist would represent the prominent nose of the masculine profile. As we turn to and consider the suprajacent configuration of lighter color, we will encounter the figure of a broad brimmed and shallow crowned hat along the top of the construction a headpiece which has been adorned, in fact, with a ribbon around the middle of the casually imparted accoutrement and we will find that the underlying eye has been depicted in the shadow beneath the brim of the referenced headpiece. As we reflect upon the image at some further length, we will appreciate the humor in the artists having supplied the female body with a ponderously featured male head, a juxtaposition of images which would recall, of course, the amusing embellishments of the representations which w considered in the paintings in the previous chapter. In fact, the practice of converting the human heads in these canvases into larger fanciful constructions will prove to be an important one, and although we will be ignoring the majority of those composite constructions in the course of this introductory exposition, we would do well to be aware of the practice and to be alert to its pervasive, and ultimately disruptive, influence upon the paintings which we will be addressing.

http://uploads1.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/standing-batherdrying-her-hair-1869.jpg

FIGURE 5. FIGURE COMPOSITION, 1871. 57 X 47 CM. REWALD 153. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)

In the second of the pictures which we will consider in this chapter, a copy of a reproduction from a fashion magazine, we will consider another, and significantly more sophisticated, metamorphosis of the representations of the human heads in the painting of Cezannes early thirties. We will want to focus upon and to confine our discussion to the head of the shorter of the females on the left side of the composition, and we will find, in doing so, that the impartation of the chin and the neck on the right side of the representation is uncommonly detailed and involved. As we endeavor to effect a more abstracted consideration of the particulars an effort which will be facilitated by zooming in on the image we will discover, not surprisingly, that the artist has transformed the lower portion of the head into the figure of a subordinate male visage. The chin would represent a prominent and conspicuously illuminated nose, and the suprajacent punctuations of darker color would designate a pair of close-knit eyes, each of them accompanied by a highlighted lid in the contiguous inflections of lighter pigment in that quarter. As we proceed down the picture plane and examine the subdued color beneath the nose, we will encounter the image

of an associated mouth in the shadow beneath the females chin, and we will observe, of course, as we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, that the diminutive construction recedes into shadow along the margin of the form on the right side of the representation.

When we remove ourselves from the reproduction and consider the construction in a more abstracted manner an effort which may, in fact, be facilitated by reducing the dimensions of the print we will discover that the females face and neck would dissolve into the figure of a sizable, typically hatted, and variably illuminated fanciful representation. The three-quarter profile in and about the subjects chin would constitute the face of the subordinate construction and recalling an improvisation which the artist had employed in his impartation of the head in an earlier study of a studio model the overhead nose would represent the projecting brim of a headpiece on top of the inclined pate. The forehead above and about the eyebrow on the left side of the females countenance would constitute the abbreviated crown of the accoutrement, perfunctorily imparted, and the infrajacent flesh would designate the cheek and jaw of the construction along the base of the secondary conception. There are, in fact, numerous such metamorphoses of the subjects heads in the artists portraits and figure compositions, the vast majority of which we will be ignoring in the course of this introductory exposition, although in the penultimate chapter in this document, we will consider another, and especially felicitous, example of these fanciful transmogrifications in one of the familiar images of the artists wife in the painting of his later forties. Inasmuch as the construction which we have identified is more sizable and abstract than the other intra-figure conceptions which we have considered up to this point a representation whose apprehension has been facilitated, of course, by the modest dimensions of the reproduction with which we have been working it might be seen to indicate the character of the macroscopic phenomena with which we will ultimately be required to contend in addressing the human heads in this multi-faceted art.

http://uploads6.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/promenade-1871.jpg

FIGURE 6. PAIR OF HEADS, C. 1870. 71 X 57 CM. REWALD 155. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI-PAINTINGS PHOTO)

In the third and concluding picture in this chapter, a study of a pair of heads which was painted on a wall of the salon in the familys country residence, we will, at the outset, return to the focus of our discussion in addressing the initial canvas in this sequence and consider another, and more sophisticated, example of the fanciful metamorphoses of the noses in these paintings. We will find, in fact, as we zoom in on the face of the masculine character on the left, that the artist has converted the nasal protuberance into the image of an involved secondary construction, a figure whose countenance has been capped by a conical headpiece beneath the bridge of the subjects nose, and one whose crossed forearms are visible in front of the torso further down the picture plane, immediately above the compressed, and apparently crossed, legs beneath the seated form. As we look to the right arm along the base of the compacted image, we will even discover that the laterally illuminated character has a glass in his hand and has apparently been depicted in the act of ingesting some liquid refreshment, a conceit which has been imparted, of course, with a facility and a charm which are not typically associated with the artist. Although, in the in-

terest of simplicity, we will be ignoring the majority of these sophisticated constructions in the course of our introductory survey, we should be aware that such conceptions are present in the noses of the artists portraits and figure studies and constitute some of the more interesting phenomena which are present in the representations of the subjects focal heads.

As we proceed to the immediate right and consider the image of the companion female character, we will encounter a pair of more sizable fanciful constructions along either side of the head, and we will want to commence our inspection of the representation with a perusal of the configuration of lighter color in and about the profiled chin. As we do so, we will discover that he artist has appropriated an adjacent compartment of background and fashioned the lower half of the visage into a more sizable female countenance, one which has been described in profile, of course, beneath the projecting brim of a headpiece in the figure of the subjects nose. The abbreviated line of hair along the margin of the gentlemans beard would represent the crease between a pair of illuminated, and ponderously conformed, lips, the image of the proximate chin would constitute the nose of the emerging construction, and the lips and the underlying shadow would represent the figures of an eyelid and eye along the perimeter of the secondary conception. On the other side of the representation, we will encounter, moreover, another profiled construction along the back of the female head, a sizable conception in which, recalling the conceit in the preceding citation, the ear would function as a cup which has been elevated to a pair of parted lips. As it turns out, the picture is one of the more interesting and one of the more important pedagogic canvases in the artists extensive oeuvre, and if we had the time and the inclination, we would find that we could devote dozens of pages to addressing the fanciful phenomena which have been embedded in the youthful painting.

http://uploads6.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/constrats-1870.jpg

CHAPTER THREE

FIGURE 7. FIGURE COMPOSITION, C. 1870. 41 X 55 CM. REWALD 163. CIVICA GALLERIA DARTE MODERNA, MILAN. (R/M/N PHOTO)

As we proceed to and consider a second collection of paintings from the artists later twenties and early thirties, we will turn from the representations of the human face with which we have occupied ourselves up to this point, and following the precedent which was established in the adornment of the nose in the previous canvas, we will entertain a series of conceptions in which the full human figure has been featured. In the first of the canvases, one whose subject has, as it turns out, been variably interpreted, we will encounter a painting in

which a donkey is the focal point of the composition, and as we examine the curiously imparted creature, we will discover that there was a reason for the peculiar evocation of the form. In fact, the image has been converted into a passable approximation of the artists bald head see the contemporaneous photograph of the painter at the conclusion of this document the shadow along the side of the torso representing some hair along the temple, the asinine head constituting what would appear to be a cap upon the back of the pate, the creatures hind legs designating a pair of elevated forearms, and the shadow upon the ground representing the foreshortened form of the recumbent figures body. If we were unaware of the artists identification with the animal as a consequence, of course, of the assonance which is present in the final syllable of his surname the transposition in question would provide some circumstantial evidence of that identification and would, in any event, present another example of the punning metamorphoses of form which abound in this inventive and imaginocentric oeuvre.

As we turn to and consider the solitary male character on the right side of the composition, an image which has been imparted in an unusually detailed manner witness, for instance, the involved folds in the shirt across the subjects lower back and the curious crease in the trouser along the right side of his form we will find, in fact, that the representation has been converted into the figures of a pair of compacted characters, a forbidding male in the darker color on the left and a fair and recoiling female in the lighter color on the other side of the body. The profiled head of the male will be discerned in the compartment of subdued pigment across the upper back, the frontal head of the female will be encountered in the oval of lighter color in and about the figure of the elevated arm on the right side of the form, and the gentlemans extended arm will be distinguished in the prominent striation of intermediate pigment about the subjects waist. If there were any question about the character of the implied interaction, the anomalous projection in the contour along the inside of the left leg would appear to suggest that the gentlemans interest was something less than platonic. The compacted representations, although proportionately smaller than the corresponding image which we identified in the study of a seated model in the opening chapter, would recall the disposition of the amusingly en-

ervated character in the earlier canvas, and while we will generally be ignoring the subject in the course of this introductory presentation, we should be aware that there is frequently a social and occasionally quite theatrical dimension in the fanciful reconstructions of the objective phenomena in these paintings.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=1&FP=58586710&E= 2K1KTSJFH7OTL&SID=2K1KTSJFH7OTL&New=T&Pic=1&SubE=2C6NU0JH6 M@S

FIGURE 8. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1871. 55 X 39 CM. REWALD 174. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the second canvas which we will examine in this chapter, another study of the youthful acquaintance whom we encountered in a portrait in the previous chapter, we will consider an uncommonly accessible, and unusually conspicuous, example of the fanciful phenomena which we have been investigating along the left side of the subjects head. We will find, in fact, as we inspect the arrangement of flesh upon that side of the representation, that the artist has introduced the form of another human figure along the flank of the pate in that quarter of the composition. In the first place, will identify the image of a carefully articulated, and eminently discernible, female countenance immediately beneath the ear, and as we ponder the relationship of that visage to the proximate configurations of light and intermediate color, we will find that the ear would represent a headpiece and that the underlying flesh upon the neck has been fashioned into the figures of an attenuated torso and pair of kneeling legs beneath that focal construction. The ears in these portraits would provide a convenient forum in which for the artist to exercise his fancy, and although we will, as it turns out, be ignoring the majority of the cognate imaginative concep-

tions in the course of this presentation, we should be aware of the existence of the likes of the character under discussion if typically less conspicuously imparted in the artists portraits and figure compositions.

As we have observed, the noses in these paintings, and especially in the portraits, presented an equally inviting framework in which for Cezanne to engage in such divertissement, and as we zoom in on the image, we will look to and consider another example of the nasal adornments which have been delineated in the painting of his early thirties. There is, in fact, an elliptical arrangement of intermediate color in the middle of the nose, and as we inspect the inflections of darker pigment across the lower, and lighter, two thirds of that configuration, we will identify the figures of a pair of prominent eyes, a highlighted nose, and a sensitively imparted, and perhaps dentally adorned, mouth in that quarter of the representation. The illuminated cheeks will be discerned in the circumscribing compartments of lighter pigment, an ear appears to have been described along the left side of the visage, and a conically crowned hat will be distinguished in the darker color immediately above the eyes, the upper portion of the countenance depicted in the shadow cast by that headpiece. Recalling the affectations which were effected in some of the earlier constructions which we have considered, the underlying striation of darker and lighter colors might be seen to constitute the elevated forearm and hand of the bust, the hand having subsequently been converted, in reflexive fashion, into the figure of an inclined and ovoid countenance at the tip of the subjects nose. Although the character in question may be directing some manner of implement toward his proximately situated mouth a dimension of the representation which is beyond the compass of this introductory exposition we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the image for the moment, appreciating the construction as a significantly more accessible conception than the one which we encountered in a preliminary study of the same subject in the previous chapter.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-thecollections/435873?rpp=20&pg=1&ao=on&ft=CEZANNE&pos=6

FIGURE 9. VILLAGE SCENE, C. 1873. 55 X 66 CM. REWALD 202. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO)

In the third and concluding canvases in this chapter, a study of a corner in a community and a picture which is arguably one of the more familiar of Cezannes landscapes additionally, perhaps, the most widely exhibited of his paintings in the first three decades of his career we will find that the interpolations which we are investigating would occasionally assume a more irreverent cast and exceptionable character. As we examine the foreground bank in the lower left corner, we will discover, in fact, that the artist has introduced another image of his prematurely balding self into that quarter of the canvas, a representation which features a substantial garment of indeterminate character on the right side of the figure and one which dissolves into insignificance in the striations of darker pigment on the other side of the form. When we ponder the presence of the ovoid arrangement of lighter color beneath the initial characters in the signature, the excrescence of corresponding pigment along the margin of the cloak near the base of the composition, and the anomalous line of darker color across the middle of the upright, if moderately

inclined, figure, we will realize that the artist is engaged in an activity which is normally confined to private quarters he is, of course, urinating! The painting is one of the three which Cezanne displayed at the first of the Impressionist exhibitions in eighteen seventy-four, and the adornment of the motif was probably added to the canvas in anticipation of its display on that occasion, an adornment which would seem to express the same defiance of his critics which we discerned in the allusion to a priapus in the youthful portrait of an associate, a painting in which the artist endeavored, as he acknowledged, to make the art community blush with rage and despair. In fact, the derision which was directed at Cezanne by his contemporaries was unprecedented and, as we can presently appreciate, he was not averse, when presented with the opportunity, of expressing his mutual disdain, compromising though the activity would be for the integrity of his paintings a century and a half later. It was an activity which would reach a crescendo three years later when, in preparing canvases for submission to the third Impressionist exhibition in eighteen seventy-seven, all heck would break loose

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=2&FP=58586711&E= 2K1KTSJFH7VIZ&SID=2K1KTSJFH7VIZ&New=T&Pic=2&SubE=2C6NU0Y837J D

CHAPTER FOUR

FIGURE 10. STILL LIFE, 1873. 41 X 27 CM. REWALD 227. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO)

Throughout his life, Cezanne refrained from signing or dating his paintings a restraint which may have occasioned by the humility with which he was so commendably endowed but in eighteen-seventy-seven, he showed numerous works in the third Impressionist exhibition, and the signatures which he applied to those canvases occasionally featured some interesting characteristics. In the first of the pictures in the present chapter, we will consider one such

conspicuously signed painting, and as we effect a cursory inspection of the inscription in the lower left corner, we will observe that the initial character in the surname has been imparted in an unusual, and arguably even curious, manner. In fact, the upper case c has been constructed of a pair of discrete components an approximation of a lower case i along the base of the character on the left and what might be perceived to be a complementary dot in the upper of the constituents across the upper half of the construction. In an effort to combine the disparate elements into something approaching the upper case c which they were supposed to represent, the artist has connected the components with a carefully articulated line of appreciably diminished weight, and it is would appear that he was engaging in some activity similar to that which we have encountered in his punning metamorphoses of the human form in the earlier paintings in this sequence. Although the inscription can be interpreted in a couple of different manners, if the bottom half of the character in question was intended to represent a lower case i, the surname would read iez/anne, and when combined with the antecedent initial, would be pronounced, of course, as pay-yay-zahn a labored, although passable, approximation of the French paysan, or peasant. The artist, throughout his life, affected what might legitimately be characterized as a provincial or rustic persona, he maintained an enduring appreciation for the common man for the peasants in his community who would dignify his representations of cardplayers in the painting of his early fifties and if he intended, in fact, to sign himself with the conjectured pay-yay-zahn, in anticipation of the picture being displayed in the third of the Impressionist exhibitions, the cognomen would, of course, convey an accurate impression of his personal sympathies and sensibilities.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=5&FP=58586718&E= 2K1KTSJFH77JJ&SID=2K1KTSJFH77JJ&New=T&Pic=4&SubE=2C6NU001S6WR

FIGURE 11. FEMALE BATHERS, 1875-76. 38 X 46 CM. REWALD 256. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the second of the pictures which we will consider in this chapter, one of the finer of the artists early bathing compositions, we will encounter another, and significantly more sizable, metamorphosis of the representations of the human head in the paintings of Cezannes thirties. We will want to focus upon and to confine our discussion to the figure of the standing female on the left side of the canvas, and we will find, in doing so, that the impartation of the chin and neck is uncommonly detailed and involved. In contrast with the straightforward impartations of the countenances in several of the earlier pictures in this sequence, the evocation of the visage is peculiar if not confusing and ultimately even bewildering and we will discover, of course, that the artists imaginative disportation played a consequential role in occasioning the referenced compromises in the objective representation. We will encounter, in fact, a pair of carefully articulated eyes across the lower portion of the countenance, a projecting nose in the underlying configuration of lighter color, and the crease in a sizable mouth in the conspicuous outline of the jaw along the base of the

inclined construction. The shadow upon the neck would constitute what could only be be the bearded chin of the secondary character, the highlights upon the nose and forehead would represent the illuminated portions of a suprajacent hat, and the right side of the bathers face would designate the highlighted half of the laterally illuminated and, in this instance, frontal countenance. As in the earlier study of a solitary standing bather, the provision of a female body with a sizable masculine head might be seen to constitute some further evidence of the artists irrepressible sense of humor, and in any event, howsoever we care to conceive of that curious adornment of the image, the construction which we have identified is another example of the infra-nasal and facio-cervical conceptions which abound in this imaginative oeuvre.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-thecollections/435867?rpp=20&pg=1&ao=on&ft=CEZANNE&pos=11

FIGURE 12. VILLAGE SCENE, 1872-73. 46 X 38 CM. REWALD 192. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO)

As we turn and consider the final painting in this chapter a study of a meandering avenue in the same community which we encountered in the previous landscape in this sequence we will find that the foreground route has been appropriated and has been modified in what is unquestionably a more sizable expression of fancy. When we incline our heads to the right and examine the image in question, we will identify, in fact, a pair of conspicuous eyes in the ellipses of lighter color, diagonally aligned, in the middle of the representation, we will encounter the tip of an associated nose in the punctuation of darker pigment further down the picture plane, and we will identify the figure of a complementary mouth in the curvilinear arrangement of lighter color along the base of the canvas, above the contour of the underlying jaw. The modestly inclined countenance has, of course, been laterally illuminated, the head has been adorned with a rudimentary and appealingly angled hat on the top of the pate, and as we proceed with our examination of the artists oeuvre, we will encounter many such conceptions the majority of them less conspicuous than in

the present canvas in the turning routes which Cezanne employed so frequently in composing his mid-life landscapes. There are some days, the artist confided to an associate, when it seems to me that the universe is nothing but a continuous stream, a river of aerial reflections around the man, and while that observation may have alluded to something approaching a mystic, or mythopoeic, experience, there is no question but what his painting cosmos was similarly populated and peopled.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=14&FP=58587039&E =2K1KTSJFH7A86&SID=2K1KTSJFH7A86&New=T&Pic=5&SubE=2C6NU0JLB6 5A

CHAPTER FIVE

FIGURE 13. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 55 X 38 CM. REWALD 219. HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

When we turn to and examine the portraits in the painting of the artists thirties, we will find that they have occasionally been adorned with carefully articulated, and decidedly more accessible, expressions of wit in the fabric of the compositions. In the first of the canvases which we will consider in this chapter, we will discover, in fact, as we inspect the nose in another of the artists portraits, that Cezanne has converted the image into the figure of an enchanting

female, the head of which has been adorned with a broad brimmed and elegantly angled hat along the top of the construction. The sensuously-lipped face is laterally illuminated, the associated neck and torso will be discerned in the underlying arrangement of intermediate color, and the figures of a pair of elevated hands may even be distinguished in the parcels of lighter pigment along either side of the buxom chest. It is interesting, in pondering the construction, to recognize the poetic character of the conception and to appreciate the contrast of the animated countenance with the stolid dispositions of the sitters in these portraits, sitters which were mere pretexts for the paroxysms of fanciful invention to which their images would be subjected and in which, it would appear, the soul of the art inhered. In fact, there is a representational facility and an aesthetic affinity apparent in the conception which are conspicuously absent from the painters impartations of the phenomena of objective reality, and it is interesting to reflect upon the fact, as we contemplate the character of the conception, that we are encountering for the first time the living human being beneath the mask-like veneer of Cezannes curiously misconstrued persona. The construction is remarkable, of course, because unlike its predecessors in this sequence, it has not been subjected to subsequent compromising metamorphoses, and it remains, as such, a convincing testament to the impulsive fanciful activity which we have been investigating. It is additionally remarkable because the conception conveys a levity of disposition which has not normally been associated with the artist and which has, on the other hand, consistently found expression in the fanciful adornments of the canvases which we have been considering in this survey.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgibin/db2www/fullSize.mac/fullSize?selLang=English&dlViewId=XH$TEHSEOO DUOPYA&size=big&selCateg=picture&dlCategId=GD3FZFVOEPZD+23T8+40&com eFrom=quick

FIGURE 14. MALE BATHERS, 1876-77. 24 X 25 CM. REWALD 254. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO)

In the second painting which we will consider in this chapter, one of the many bathing compositions which Cezanne executed during his thirties, we will turn from the representations of the head with which we have occupied ourselves in several of the previous pictures, and we will consider an example of the fullfigure constructions which have been embedded in the images of the standing human forms in these canvases. In inspecting a painting in the work of the artists twenties, we found that the character on the right side of the composition had been fashioned into the figures of a pair of subordinate characters, and as we zoom in on the bather on the left side of the canvas, we will identify a pair of analogous, though distinctly more accessible, such constructions across the surface of the prominently displayed form. In fact, the flesh upon the left side of the back has been converted into the figure of an elegant male profile, and as we look to and consider the underlying components on that same side of the corporeality, we will encounter the suggestions of a shirted torso and elevated right arm in the representation of the bathers shorts. There would appear to be

a complementary, if more primitively conformed, construction on the other side of the corporeality, but the conception in question is not nearly as interesting as the companion image which we have identified, and in any event, we will discern in each of the representations some further evidence of the full figures which we will encounter in these imaginative metamorphoses of the standing human form.

As we proceed to the succeeding reproduction in the sequence and effect an inspection of the entire composition, we will find that the head of the character on the right has been subjected to a similar metamorphosis and, recalling the conversion of the analogous component of the representation in an earlier study of a bather, has been molded into a significantly more sizable fanciful construction. In fact, the lighter foliage in the corner would represent a casually conformed, and unquestionably rudimentary, headpiece the shadow beneath the brim imparted by the accents of darker color about the bathers elevated arm and we will discover, as we proceed down the picture plane, that the punctuations of analogous pigment along either side of the elbow would designate a pair of eyes. The flesh upon the face would constitute the highlighted upper lip and the inflection of similar color upon the shoulder the illuminated lower lip of the superimposed construction, the darker color along the base of the visage describing the crease in the associated mouth, an implement projecting, perhaps, from the corner of the latter image along the left side of the representation. Although the conception is not nearly as well developed as the one which we encountered in the aforeferenced study of a solitary female bather, the broad contours of the construction, and the character of the artists discursive intentions, should be reasonably accessible upon extended contemplation of the particulars, especially if the dimensions of the reproduction are reduced so as to facilitate a broader consideration of the subject.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=409&FP=58587999& E=2K1KTSJFH72ZF&SID=2K1KTSJFH72ZF&New=T&Pic=164&SubE=2C6NU07 F9UTS

FIGURE 15. STILL LIFE, C. 1877. 46 X 55 CM. REWALD 348. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In discussing a couple of earlier paintings in this sequence, we referred to the fact that Cezanne displayed pictures in the first and third Impressionist exhibitions in the middle eighteen seventies, and we remarked that in the canvases which were painted, or even adapted, for public consumption, the artist did not distinguish himself with his decorousness. In the concluding painting in the present chapter, a still life which was exhibited at the third of the referenced shows, the artist may have modified the composition in anticipation of it being offered for public inspection, and if that was indeed the case, we will find that the otherwise commendably executed canvas has been compromised in the process of having been converted into a social document. We will want to commence our inspection of the painting by inclining our heads to the right and by considering the shadow upon the tablecloth above the foreground plate of apples, an arrangement which features, of course, a curious striation of lighter pigment in the middle of the chromatic configuration. We will find that the anomalous component in question resembles a prominently protruding nose,

and if that is a viable reading of the representation and an accurate interpretation of the artists discursive intentions the conspicuous ovals on either side or the organ would constitute a pair of eyes, and the underlying punctuation of darker pigment would designate the figure of a complementary mouth. Although the image has been compromised by some subsequent metamorphoses of the conception across the top of the representation, the countenance in question is reasonably recognizable, and it may well be framed by a loosely conformed scarf on the left and a complementary torso in the lighter color beneath the inclined construction.

Lending credence to that creative reading of the representation, we will encounter what could only be an extended forearm and hand in the abbreviated arrangement of lighter color above the shaded parcel of fabric on the left, and when we examine the area immediately beneath the referenced limb, we will identify the figure of what would appear to be a carefully articulated and partially obscured hat in the limited arrangement of darker color in that quarter. As we look to the compartment of intermediate color beneath the remarked headpiece, we will apprehend the features of another diagonally aligned countenance a pair of wide-set eyes, for instance, a broad and abbreviated nose, and the figure of a prominent, and perhaps dentally adorned, mouth and when we consider the impressive breadth of the visage, we may be warranted in wondering if the image was not intended to represent Cezannes uncommonly sizable head. Although the nature of the social interaction may be of interest especially, of course, if the painter was one of the principals we would do well to proceed with caution before determining whether the fold in the fabric across the front of the table was intended to represent a leg, and if so, deciding to which of the characters it should be ascribed. In any event, welcome to the Impressionist exhibition of eighteen seventy-seven, a show in which, inasmuch as the artist was not indecorously engaged along the flank of a foreground hillside as he had, of course, been in a landscape which was displayed in the initial Impressionist exhibition three years earlier his demeanor would appear to have at least modestly improved with the passage of time. Pay-yay-zahn, the signature on another of the

paintings in the exhibition proudly, and revealingly, proclaimed pay-yayzahn.

http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-thecollections/437989?rpp=20&pg=1&ao=on&ft=CEZANNE&pos=12

CHAPTER SIX

FIGURE 16. SELF PORTRAIT, 1881-82. 56 X 46 CM. REWALD 510. BAYERISCHE STAATSGEMALDESAMMLUNGEN, MUNICH. (R/M/N PHOTO)

After the third Impressionist exhibition, Cezanne only sporadically offered his work for public inspection in the course of the succeeding twenty years, and the indecorousness which we encountered in the work of earlier decades in canvases which would appear to have been painted, or mischievously embellished, for public consumption subsided. As we proceed to the painting of his early forties, however, and consider a selection of the progressively more

accomplished work which he produced during that period, we will find that the fanciful enthusiasm which he exhibited in the execution of earlier canvases had survived, and we will even discover, in inspecting the concluding picture in this chapter, that he had not entirely abandoned the exceptionable activities to which we have alluded in the painting of previous decades. In the initial canvas which we will consider, a study of the artists person in a turban, we will encounter an uncommonly accessible fanciful construction along the flank of the subjects head, a portion of the representation which had, of course, been fashioned into the figure of a kneeling female in an earlier portrait of one of Cezannes associates. As we examine the involved brushwork in and about the shadow in the middle of the ear, we will find, in a preliminary vein, that the artist has described the laterally illuminated, and diminutively proportioned, form of a frontal male countenance in that quarter of the representation, an image which is, of course, like the majority of its predecessors in this sequence, not devoid of charm nor comeliness. If we were interested in pursuing the subject, we would even discover, moving lower, that Cezanne has introduced the figure of a second, and decidedly more loosely conformed, countenance beneath its suprajacent sibling, in and about the lobe at the base of the ear.

More to the point of our interest in the more sizable constructions which are present in these paintings, we will find, as we proceed to the right, that the disjunction in the color along the left side of the sideburn is unusually involved, and we will discover, in fact, upon further inspection of the particulars, that the lighter color in that quarter has been fashioned into the figure of a conspicuous male profile. The indentation in the beard along the back of the jaw would describe the outline around the figure of an extended chin, the oscillation in the contour across from the lobe of the ear would indicate the location of a discreetly imparted mouth, and the indentation in the sideburn further up the canvas would define the outline around the image of a prominently protruding nose. As we proceed further up the picture plane, we will encounter the figure of a conspicuous eye in the shadow between the ear and the circumscribing arrangement of flesh, and if we were to return to the base of the image, we would discover, of course, that the columnar arrangement of flesh upon the back of the neck would represent the elongated neck of the profiled character whom we

have identified. The conception is, in fact, modestly more sizable than the corresponding constructions which we have considered in the preceding portraits in this sequence, and it might be seen to confirm the contention, earlier proffered, that, in spite of the maturescence of his craft, the artist was not at all reticent about expressing his fancy in these progressively more accomplished works.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=409&FP=58587999& E=2K1KTSJFH72ZF&SID=2K1KTSJFH72ZF&New=T&Pic=230&SubE=2C6NU0T Z0NY3

FIGURE 17. MARITIME SCENE, 1882-83. 73 X 90 CM. REWALD 518. READERS DIGEST COLLECTION, NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)

In the second canvas which we will consider, a study of a hillside above a community which the artist frequented on the Mediterranean coast, we will encounter some further evidence of Cezannes fanciful enthusiasm, and we will discover, in fact, that the autobiographic inclination which we distinguished in the painting of earlier decades was alive and well in the work of his forties. As we examine the foliage on the left side of the foreground tree, we will find, in fact, that the vegetation in that quarter had been fashioned into the figure of a seated male character, an individual who appears to be leaning against the trunk as he lingers on the slope above the residences in the background. The lower legs have been described in the divergent columns of lighter color along the base of the representation, the forearms have been rested, of course, on top of the associated knees, and the suprajacent arrangement of lighter color along the margin of the trunk of the tree would designate the highlights upon the shoulder of the diminutive character in question. When we look to and examine the contiguous arrangement of intermediate color in that quarter, we will

identify the figure of what would appear to be a bald and bearded head a figure which, although recognizable, would arguably be more accessible without the superimposed inflection of purple pigment across the bearded jaw, an inflection which may have been intended to camouflage the image and as we ponder the dexterously imparted construction, we will realize that it is an outstanding representation of the artists distinctive physiognomy, not the first time, of course, that he has introduced a likeness of himself into these paintings. We need only discern in the image some further evidence of Cezannes fanciful enthusiasm and autobiographic inclination, and it is indeed heartening, after having observed the turbulence in the painting of earlier decades, to find the artist leisurely communing with nature in a pristine maritime setting. In fact, life appears to have been good in Provence in the early eighteen eighties.

http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/l-estaque-viewthrough-the-pines-1883.jpg

FIGURE 18. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1878-88. 93 X 73 CM. REWALD 706. BUHRLE FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

Well, sort of As we look to and consider the concluding painting in this chapter a representation of the artists significant other, a woman who would subsequently become his wife we will discover that, appearances notwithstanding, all was not levity, sweetness and light in the artists experience in the early eighteen eighties. In keeping with our limited interest, we will want to examine the wallpaper above the sitters left shoulder, and as we do so, we will find that the floral motif in that quarter has been fashioned into the figure of a sizable facial profile. The accents of darker color along the base of the leaf on top of the arrangement would represent an eye and eyebrow, respectively, the horizontal leaf on the right and further down the picture plane would designate a prominently protruding nose, and the leaf at the bottom of the arrangement would describe the upper and lower lips around the crease in the middle of a ponderously conformed mouth. If that is an accurate reading of the representation and a valid reconstruction of the artists discursive intentions, the shadow behind the chair would appear to constitute the torso and midsec-

tion of the profiled figure, and as we proceed down the picture plane apprised of the existence of the exceptionable features which we encountered in the painting of earlier decades we might be warranted in wondering if the lower of the foliar motifs across from the subjects left elbow were not intended to represent some additional components of the masculine characters anatomy.

In examining several of the earlier paintings in this sequence, we observed that Cezanne was not averse to employing his art in a personal, and occasionally vindictive, manner, and his reprisals were not limited to offending the sensibilities of the vituperative public with which he had become so colorfully engaged in his twenties and early thirties. As it turns out, his relationship with his significant other was a challenging one, and it is possible that he intended some manner of sardonic commentary upon the character of that relationship in introducing the dubiously embellished figure into the background of the midlife portrait. As we contemplate the image, however, and reflect upon the fact that the subject is holding a fan in her right hand an implement which is in the proximity of, and even suggestively pointing at, the lower of the foliar motifs in the vicinity of the masculine midsection we may conclude, alternatively, that the adaptation of the wallpaper pattern was effected in response, or in reference. to the function of the personal accouterment. In fact, in broader terms, the allusion may have been to the tempering influence of the female in mollifying, and in ultimately assuaging, masculine ardor, and in any event, howsoever we care to conceive of its significance, the background interpolation might be seen to provide some further evidence of the artists impulsive tendencies and discursive propensities, prominently on display, of course, in this uncommonly indulgent painting.

http://www.buehrle.ch/show_pic.php?lang=en&id_pic=53

PART TWO

CHAPTER SEVEN

FIGURE 19. SELF PORTRAIT, 1879-80. 34 X 25 CM. REWALD 416. OSKAR REINHART FOUNDATION, WINTERTHUR. (ATHENAEUM PHOTO)

In the initial canvas which we will consider in the second half of this document a painting which is, in fact, one of more familiar portraits in the work of the artists forties we will encounter another of the ubiquitous embellishments of the noses which are present in Cezannes oeuvre, and as we ponder the characteristics of the subordinate construction which will concern us, we will appreciate that the image is an especially transparent example of the fanciful

activity which we have been investigating. The highlighted flank of the nose, along the left side of the organ, is the portion of the representation which will be of interest to us, and as we inspect the heavily impasted surface in that area, we should have little problem in apprehending the moderately inclined, typically hatted, and laterally illuminated male head which has been described in that quarter of the subjects face. We will find, in fact, that there are a pair of carefully articulated eyes along either side of the chromatic disjunction in the middle of the remarked arrangement, we will encounter the figure of a nose in the anomalous inflection of lighter pigment on the left side of that disjunction, and moving lower, we will identify the image of a complementary mouth in the angled punctuation of intermediate pigment across the base of the highlighted arrangement. The right side of the countenance is, of course, illuminated, the left side is immersed in shadow, and as we turn to and consider some of the circumscribing compartments of color, we will distinguish what would appear to be the collar of a shirt at the bottom of the referenced arrangement and the figure of a low-lying hat on top of the inclined head at its apex. In fact, the character would appear to be a courtier from an earlier century. In earlier paintings, we occasionally encountered foreground arms along the bases of these fanciful constructions, and when we inspect the present image with those precedents in mind, we will realize that the configuration of darker color beneath the chin may represent an elevated hand, as though the character were about to introduce some food into his proximately situated mouth. Howsoever we care to conceive of the latter component, the head has not been subjected to any subsequent compromising metamorphoses, the image is reasonably intact and accessible as a consequence, and it is, as such, an appropriate point of departure for us as we prepare to examine the painting of the artists maturity.

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=6119

FIGURE 20. MARITIME SCENE, 1879-83. 60 X 73 CM. REWALD 444. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

Cezanne painted many studies of the bay in a community a modest distance from his home along the Mediterranean coast, and although he liberally exercised his fancy in adapting and creatively adorning those canvases, the present picture might well be characterized as the most intriguing one of the collection. Commentators have observed through the years that there is a sizable human countenance, horizontally oriented along the border of the canvas, in the image of the body of water in the distance, and in an oeuvre replete with such curious phenomena, that feature, in and of itself, should neither command our attention nor warrant our concern. As we turn to and consider the radiographic image of the canvas at the conclusion of this document, however, we will find, in fact, that the landscape has been painted over a portrait not, as it turns out, any portrait, but a likeness of the significant other whom the painter had subjected to what might legitimately be characterized as an artistic indignity in the concluding painting in the previous chapter and we will discover, moreover,

that the components of the scene have carefully framed, and that there has been no effort to otherwise conceal, the image of the subjects head.

When we rotate the landscape into portrait orientation, we will distinguish the features of the referenced female visage in the constellation of darker punctuations in the middle of the bay and along the border of the painting, and although the artist has camouflaged the image with the reflections of the clouds across the base of the representation, he has made no effort to obscure nor ultimately to conceal it. In light of the documented existence of the couples occasionally challenging relationship one in which they would, in fact, separate for extended durations over the course of their multi-decade association and as a consequence of the artists propensity for employing his painting in a highly personal manner, we might be warranted in wondering if the superimposed landscape was not meant to function as a geologic straitjacket for his companion during a period of stress in their relationship. And if that was indeed the case, the painting is not a landscape, strictly speaking, it is, in fact, a portrait with an occasionally fractious subject ingeniously constrained by her companion, a companion who may have been incapable of accomplishing such a feat, at least to his satisfaction, in the course of their extended relationship. In that event, of course, a case could be made that the painting should be displayed in portrait rather than in landscape orientation.

http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/59205.html?mulR=212787 9908|23

FIGURE 21. FEMALE BATHERS, 1883-85. 63 X 84 CM. REWALD 553. STAATSGALERIE STUTTGART. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the course of a recent chapter, we examined a copy of a reproduction from a fashion magazine, and inasmuch as we encountered an intriguing adaptation of the head of one of the characters in the painting, we will turn to a bathing composition from the artists early forties, and we will consider some similar metamorphoses of the heads of the figures on the right side of the composition. (The detail with which we will be working is unfortunately of inferior quality, but until such time as a replacement can be secured, it will have to suffice for our present introductory purposes.) We will commence our inspection of the painting by addressing the head of the second character in the sequence from left to right, an image which, like the majority of its predecessors, has been subjected to some manner of supplementary, and ultimately compromising, activity in the course of its cursory impartation. In fact, as we incline our heads to the right and inspect the darker inflections across the base of the countenance, we will find that the artist has described the visage of a subordinate masculine character in that quarter, a image which, like its predecessor in the copy of a

magazine reproduction a decade earlier, has been accoutered with a ponderous headpiece, the projecting brim of which has been imparted, once again, by the figure of the suprajacent nose.

As we proceed to the right and inspect the head of the third figure in the sequence, we will encounter an equally garbled image one which is, as been intimated, characteristic of the representations in these curiously constituted bathing compositions and as we remove ourselves from the reproduction and incline our heads to the right, we will identify the figure of an especially conspicuous fanciful construction along the flank of the bathers pate. In fact, the line of darker pigment upon the back of the cheek would represent a mouth, the inflection of corresponding color in the coiffure would designate the tip of a nose, and the ellipse of darker pigment in the hair along the temple would constitute an eye, an image which has been complemented, of course, with and by the subjects eye on the right side of the inclined countenance. The sizable, moderately inclined, and laterally illuminated construction should be reasonably accessible upon extended examination of the particulars, and although there are, as it turns out, several other fanciful conceptions which are present in the image, we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the representation for the moment.

As we return to the left and look to the head of the initial character in the sequence, we will encounter another peculiar countenance across the base of the profiled image, and as we proceed with our inspection of its components, we will observe that the eyes are disproportionately large, that the highlighted nose, with an exposed nostril, is unusually prominent, and that the outline beneath the jaw is curiously linear and abbreviated. When we remove ourselves from the reproduction and effect a more abstracted consideration of the image, we will find that the artist has appropriated the neck and converted it into a substantial chin, employed the shadow beneath the jaw as a mouth, and ultimately transformed the representation into a distended three-quarter profile, a metamorphosis which would account, of course, for the disproportionate sizes

of the subjects eyes and nose. Although the constructions which we have identified are not the only fanciful conceptions which are present in the images which we have addressed, they are representative of the fanciful phenomena which have been embedded in those representations, and we will discover, as we proceed with our survey, that they provide a framework within which to discuss the imaginative phenomena which we will be encountering in the painting of Cezannes maturity.

http://onlinekatalog.staatsgalerie.de/detail.jsp?id=02ED81F6492ECC39B795CF8 A8DD8E405&img=1

CHAPTER EIGHT

FIGURE 22. THE ARTISTS WIFE, C. 1890. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 684. MUSEE DE LORANGERIE, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

In a youthful portrait which we examined in the opening chapter, we discovered that Cezanne had described the figure of a reclining female across the top of the sitters head, and in the present picture a painting sketch of his significant other, a woman who had recently become his wife we will return to the subject of those colorful adornments of the coiffures in these canvases. As we incline our heads to the left and consider the area in and about the top of the

hair, we will encounter what would appear to be a quickly sketched and casually imparted hat in that quarter, an accoutrement which might have been significantly more conspicuous prior to the introduction of an obfuscating line of darker pigment across the middle of the inclined construction. As we look to the underlying compartment of lightly inflected canvas, we will distinguish the features of an equally quickly sketched and equally casually imparted male countenance beneath the contour of the undulating brim, a representation in which the eye on the right, the modestly proportioned but conspicuously protruding nose, and the agreeably smiling mouth are visible in the middle of the visage. The parcel of lighter color at the base of the construction would constitute, of course, a prominent chin, the configuration of analogous color beneath the brim of the headpiece on the right would represent the exposed portion of an ear, and the unpainted canvas beneath the latter image would designate the neck and upper shoulder of the mesomorphic character, sprawled across the top of the sitters pate in what could only be characterized as an ungainly ma nner. In broader terms, the lightly inflected canvas on the right side of the coiffure would constitute the illuminated portion of the countenance, the subdued color on the left would designate the shaded and more substantial half of the image, as it recedes into the shadow in that quarter, and the representation is, of course, another example of the laterally illuminated phenomena which we have encountered so frequently in our cursory inspection of this oeuvre.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/portrait-of-madamec%C3%A9zanne/YgGTzo7pRWiPIg?projectId=art-project

FIGURE 23. FEMALE BATHERS, C. 1885. 65 X 65 CM. REWALD 554. KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the present canvas, we will turn to and consider one of the more familiar bathing compositions in the work of the artists forties a picture which, like several of its predecessor in this sequence, might accurately be characterized as one of the iconic paintings in Western art of the past two centuries and we will, in inspecting the curiously proportioned canvas, consider some intriguing adaptations of the head of the seated female in the middle of the arrangement. As we zoom in on the face of that focal character, we will find, in inspecting the mosaic of lighter and darker colors between the bridge of the nose and the eye on the right, that the artist has introduced the figure of an animated and variably illuminated male countenance in that quarter. As we proceed down and across the picture plane, we will identify a more sizable, and arguably more intriguing, adornment of the females nose around its highlighted terminus, a construction with which, mindful of the conceptions which we encountered in a couple of earlier portraits, we will momentarily endeavor to concern ourselves. We will discover, in fact, that the shadow alongside the nose above, in and

about, and ultimately beneath the eye on the left side of the countenance resembles a casually conformed and amply crowned hat, and moving lower, we will encounter, not surprisingly, the features of a complementary visage in and about the tip of the proximately situated nose. The inflections of darker pigment immediately beneath the brim would designate a pair of eyes, the contour along the border of the underlying configuration of lighter color would define the outline along the crest of a nose, and the shadow in and about the base of the organ would describe a mustachioed upper lip and goateed chin around the figure of an illuminated mouth. Although the reproduction is unfortunately inferior, the construction should be reasonably accessible if we are successful, of course, in creatively navigating the obfuscating pixilation and although, in and of itself, it is of only modest significance, its presence in a composition which is, as has been intimated, among the iconic paintings of Western art in the past two centuries, at the very least, interesting.

In inspecting the bathing composition in the previous chapter, we found that the artist had converted the figures heads into a variety of more sizable fanciful constructions, and as we turn to and consider the succeeding reproduction in the sequence, we will discover that he has effected a corresponding metamorphosis of the representation under present consideration. In fact, as we examine the inflections of darker pigment, and the curiously conformed contour, along the left side of the bathers neck, we will encounter a pair of eyes immediately beneath the chin, the highlighted nose in the infrajacent arrangement of lighter color, and the dentally adorned mouth in the peculiar crease in the flesh further down the picture plane. The figure, like the preceding conception in the portrait of the artists wife, recedes into insignificance in the shadow along the left side of the laterally illuminated form, the bathers face would constitute a sizable, but appropriately dimensioned, hat on top of the infrajacent countenance, and the lower third of the representation has subsequently, of course, been converted into the figure of a sizable facial profile one which features a conspicuously aquiline nose at the junction of the neck and shoulder. We had referred to some of the earlier conceptions as being infranasal or facio-cervical, but it is apparent that the present construction is independent of, and only incidentally related to, the figure of the suprajacent

countenance, and it would have to be characterized, as such, as cervical and, more broadly, corporal in constitution.

http://194.176.109.156/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultDetailView/result.t 1.collection_detail.$TspImage.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SelementList&sp =1&sp=1&sp=999&sp=SdetailView&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F

FIGURE 24. THE ARTISTS SON, 1888-90. 65 X 54 CM. REWALD 649. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In an effort to expand the locus of our discussion, and as a means of indicating the character of the rarefied conceptions which are present in the painting of the artists later forties, we will turn to and consider one of the familiar portraits from the period, a study of Cezannes son in a bowler hat. We will want to commence our inspection of the representation with a consideration of the arm on the left side of the subjects form, and as we do so, we will encounter another of the limbar embellishments which we identified in the study of a seated model in the painting of the artists twenties, a study which was, of course, the second painting in our progression. In fact, as we remove ourselves from the image or, alternatively, effect a modest diminution in the dimensions of the reproduction we will find that there is an unusual crease in the coat around the subjects elbow, and some anomalous adornments of the wall above his shoulder, on the left side of the composition. As we effect a more abstracted consideration of the particulars, we will discover, of course, that the crease in the garment would describe the contour around the figure of a reductionist foot,

that the overhead arrangement of lighter color would represent a profiled leg, and that the contiguous configuration of lighter pigment upon the subjects right shoulder a compartment across from the top of the aforeferenced leg would designate the midsection of the fanciful construction in which we are interested.

As we look to and consider the suprajacent arrangement of lighter pigment upon the wall a chromatic configuration similar, of course, to that in the infrajacent compartment of color upon the shoulder we will encounter the complementary components of the bipartite and closure accessed figure which has been articulated in that quarter. In fact, the lozenge of lighter color at the base of the arrangement would represent the compacted shoulder and torso of the cursorily imparted character, and the overhead configuration of lighter color would constitute the reductionist form, and featureless facial profile, of a hatted head on top of the composite construction. Typically, these secondary conceptions would be converted into tertiary fanciful constructions inevitably compromising the antecedent conceptions in the process and as an example of that supplementary activity in the present painting, we will find that the lighter color across the lower half of the background arrangement has been fashioned into the profile of a felicitously featured, ponderously jowled and becomingly capped head above the figure of the subjects shoulder.

As we proceed to the other side of the canvas and consider the delicately inflected brushwork in the upper right corner, we will encounter a more abstract, and significantly more sophisticated, example of these fanciful interpolations in that quarter of the composition. Once again, as a consequence of the abstraction of the construction which we will be addressing, we may find that it is advantageous to reduce the dimensions of the reproduction, and after having done so, we should have little problem in apprehending the secondary conception which has been articulated across from the corner of the foreground canvas. We will observe, in the first place, that the column of lighter color above the subjects left shoulder would constitute an elevated forearm, perfunctorily im-

parted, along the base of the construction in question. As we look to and inspect the terminus of the limb at the top of the chromatic configuration, we will encounter the bowl and curvilinear shaft of a dexterously imparted pipe, an implement which is emitting, of course, appropriately, a modest plume of smoke. As we proceed further up the picture plane, we will identify a pair of pursed lips in the circumscribed arrangement of lighter color above the shaft of the pipe, and moving higher still, we will apprehend a pair of eyes and eyebrows in the delicate inflections of darker pigment in the vicinity of the foreground canvas.

In somewhat broader terms, we will find that the lighter color in the corner would represent the highlighted flank of a hat on top of the head the brim positioned diagonally across the forehead on the right side of the visage and we will discover that the darker color along the top of the painting on the other side of the countenance would represent some hair, and perhaps a portion of the shadow beneath the brim, above the figure of a predominantly obscured ear. There is, of course, a wistful expression upon the countenance which, when coupled with the felicitous impartation of the pipe and the delicate evocation of the plume of smoke, would impart a poetry and charm to the representation which are, it is becoming apparent, everyone in evidence in this misconstrued oeuvre. The image is, of course, the most abstract conception which we have considered up to this point, and it, like the composite construction which we encountered on the other side of the canvas, might be perceived to constitute a bridge between the microscopic phenomena in Voila Cezanne and the macroscopic phenomena in Bonjour Cezanne.

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.46575.html

CHAPTER NINE

FIGURE 25. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 653. ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In inspecting a portrait of one of the artists youthful associates a painting which we considered in the opening chapter of this document we observed that Cezanne had converted one of the subjects hands into the figure of a hatted head, the lower portion of the visage obscured, of course, by an elevated forearm. Although we have not taken the time to address any further adaptations of the hands in his portraits, we should be aware that his oeuvre is

teeming with manual manipulations, and in an effort to indicate the character of the metamorphoses in question, we will turn to and consider a portrait of the artists wife from the painting of his early fifties. The heads (and bodies) of the figures in his bathing compositions were a constant source of consternation for Cezannes contemporaries, and it was apparent that those representations were not merely imperfectly drawn but were disfigured by some manner of incidental activity which could neither be identified nor comprehended. As it turns out, the hands in his portraits were possessed of similarly disturbing qualities, and as we look to the manual images in the present painting apprised of the existence of the fanciful activity which we have been investigating we will appreciate that the representations in question have been imparted in a maladroit, and arguably even grotesque, fashion. It is evident that there was no effort to effect anything resembling verisimilitude, and up to this point, we have had no means of deciphering such images nor of comprehending the rationale for their disturbing conformations. Indeed, what in the world is going on in those peculiar representations?

We will find, in the first place, that it will be advantageous to work with a significantly enlarged reproduction of the images, and we will want to focus, by way of introduction, upon the figure of the hand on the right side of the arrangement, a representation which might legitimately be characterized as the primary component in the compound construction. As we look to the features in and about the wrist, we will find that the configuration of lighter color in that quarter a configuration which might initially appear to be monochromatic has been adorned with some inflections of slightly darker pigment, inflections will be found, in fact, to describe the features of a moderately inclined and conspicuously mouthed female countenance beneath the figure of a hatted pate. Moving lower, we will encounter the open neck of a casually imparted and loosely configured garment of darker color indicating, of course, if it wasnt apparent from the conformation of the countenance that the character in question is female, and we will discover that the thumb would represent an extended arm and that the index finger would constitute an elevated leg, the dress sliding up the limb in the act of having been raised, revealing an exposed calf. All well and good, or so it would seem

As we look to the other hand, we will observe that there are some conspicuous corporal correspondences in the representation a prone torso, perhaps, at the base of the forearm, a sizable shoulder around the heel of the thumb, and an extended arm in the image of the index finger across the base of the construction. When we look to the color in and about the tip of the thumb, we will find that the artist has inflected the shadow on the right and, in the process, transformed the bichromatic arrangement into the figure of a diminutive head, a variably illuminated male head which is situated beneath the female armpit and positioned uncomfortably close to the latter characters proximate midse ction. If there were any doubt about the nature of the implied interaction, we will find that Cezanne has effected a subsequent adaptation of one of the digits and, in the process, left little doubt about the character of his apparently offcolor intentions. In fact, as we incline our heads to the right and inspect the contour along the top of the second characters extended arm, we will discover that he has converted the limb into the figure of a profiled masculine face a conversion which has been accompanied and complemented, of course, by an associated transformation of the thumb into the image of an elevated arm and when we pause and consider the proximity of that tertiary face to the base of the female torso well, enough said.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/62371?search_no=5&index=10

FIGURE 26. CARD PLAYERS, 1890-92. 65 X 81 CM. REWALD 707. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)

Inasmuch as the artist executed a series of paintings of card players in his early fifties and in light of the fact that those compositions are amongst the most esteemed canvases in his oeuvre we will turn to and consider a representation of a background observer in one of the referenced sequence of genre paintings. As we examine the animated brushwork along the left side of the characters head, we will find that there are some unusual features in and about the sideburn and cheek on that side of the image, and when we inspect the conspicuous chromatic disjunction in that quarter, we will discover that the contour of the lighter color on the right has been fashioned into the profile of a sizable male countenance, a profile which possesses, of course, a nose which might tentatively be characterized as aquiline. When we contemplate the garbled constellation of features along the left side of the head at some further length, we will find that the artist has elaborated upon the conception of the aforeferenced facial profile and employing the apparatus of perceptual closure converted the image into a portion of a considerably larger such

construction, loosely conformed and diagonally aligned, in that quarter of the representation.

The eye and eyebrow in the profile have been appropriated and employed in similar capacities in the successor image, the highlighted nose would function in identical fashion in the expanded conception, and the inflection of darker pigment near the middle of the ear would designate a second eye on the left side of the inclined frontal representation. Proceeding down and across the picture plane, we will encounter a complementary mouth in the punctuations of darker color about the cheekbone, we will find that the ear would represent some highlighted flesh along the left side of the image, and we will discover that the shadow along the jaw might be seen to describe the elevated forearm and hand of the apparently eating character. Although the construction is significantly more loosely constituted than some of its predecessors in this sequence contingent for apprehension, as has been intimated upon the apparatus of perceptual closure the inclined image should be reasonably accessible upon extended examination of the particulars, and we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the conception for the moment. Suffice it to say that the garbled features along the left side of the head would indicate the character of the compromises which would so frequently accompany these indulgent exercises of fancy, and while the majority of the representation has been spared the disfigurement which we have encountered in that quarter, many other images in the artists oeuvre witness, for instance, the countenances of the females in the bathing composition in the chapter before last, would, as it turns out, experience a considerably less auspicious fate.

http://uploads4.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/the-card-players1893.jpg

FIGURE 27. COUNTRY SCENE, C. 1890. 62 X 92 CM. REWALD 698. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

In the third and final picture which we will consider in this chapter, a representation of the environment in the vicinity of the artists residence one which features a prominence which some commentators have characterized as majestic we will turn to and address another colorful image in the painting of the artists early fifties. As we look to and examine the vegetation on the left side of the composition, we will find that the foliage above the foreground wall has been imparted in an especially animated manner, and as we proceed up the picture plane, we will encounter some further evidence of that animation and what might tentatively be characterized as a figurative evocation of that febrility in the foliage of the solitary tree in that quarter of the composition. In fact, the configuration on the lower right resembles an elevated arm, the corresponding arrangement on the left, along the margin of the canvas, presents a reasonable approximation of another elevated arm, and as we look to and consider the more substantial foliage at the top of the tree, we will encounter some further evidence of those anthropic associations and some implicit corrobo-

ration of the aforeferenced correspondences in that quarter of the representation. In fact, as we incline our heads to the left and examine the contour of the foliage as it emerges from the trunk of the tree, we will encounter the three quarter profile of a pleasantly conformed and laterally illuminated female countenance, an image which features a smiling mouth and an extended chin along its base, and one which is accompanied, and complemented, by a substantial mass of hair upon the back of the head. The underlying arms, and the associated hands, would appear to have been raised to the mouth in anticipation of the female engaging in some manner of distant salutation, and as we look from the darker foliage of the tree to the lighter vegetation around its base, we will encounter an approximation of a complementary torso, however allusively imparted, in the columnar arrangement along the right side of the trunk.

http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=15&FP=58664859&E =2K1KTSJF6W01N&SID=2K1KTSJF6W01N&New=T&Pic=2&SubE=2C6NU04Q ZWM2

CHAPTER TEN

FIGURE 28. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1890. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 670. BUHRLE FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the present picture, a portrait of the artist in front of his easel and one of the more familiar paintings in the work of his early fifties, we will encounter a couple of intriguing expressions of fancy along the side and across the lower portion of the subjects focal countenance. We will find, for example, as we to look to and examine the ear along the flank of the head, that the lighter color along the base of the image has been converted into a face the features pre-

sent, of course, in the shadow upon the right side of the laterally illuminated form and that the upper half has been fashioned into an amusingly oversized headpiece, a fanciful construction which injects something of a carnivalic ambience into an otherwise pedestrian likeness. We will discover, of course, as we proceed with our inspection of the image, that the artist has converted the chin into a diminutive tertiary construction the hatted head and inclined countenance of another masculine character in and about the lobe of the ear. When we remove ourselves from the reproduction and consider the suprajacent arrangement of hair along the temple, we will even encounter the comely visage of a female character in that quarter an image which has, of course, been obscured by the shadow across the forehead and one of the eyes and we will find that, ultimately, the left side of the subjects pate has been fashioned into the figure of a significantly more sizable fanciful construction. The image in the hair would constitute the extended head of the quaternary conception, the ear would represent an exposed arm along the side of the infrajacent torso, and the columnar arrangement of lighter color upon the neck would constitute the mid and lower portions of the lissome corporeality, beneath the figure of a featureless dress. The latter construction is, of course, a variation on, and extension of, the conception which we encountered along the flank of the subjects head in the portrait of one of the artists associates in the third chapter, and the density of the fanciful invention which we have encountered in this quarter would document the existence of the representational multiplicity with which we will ultimately be required to contend in addressing Cezannes imaginocentric art.

As we proceed down and across the picture plane, we will find, as we incline our heads to the right, that there are, moreover, some interesting characteristics in the color around the image of the subjects mouth. In fact, we will identify the figures of a prominently projecting, and appropriately highlighted, nose on the left side of the upper lip, a pair of carefully articulated and uncommonly accessible eyes around the proximate bridge, and the figure of a complementary mouth in the underlying inflection of darker pigment upon the lower lip. As we look to the right side of the variably colored, and radically inclined, countenance, we will apprehend the representation of a low-crowned hat in the darker

pigment in that quarter a headpiece which has been positioned on top of the pate at an appealing, and arguably even dashing, angle and as we return across the picture plane to the left, we will encounter what would appear to be an elevated forearm in the sequestered compartment of intermediate color on the other side of the moustache. When we contemplate the image in a sufficiently abstracted manner, we will find that the rectangle of lighter color along the base of the beard intersects with the forearm and might be seen, as such, to constitute a complementary upper arm, and if that is an accurate reading of the representation, the circumscribing arrangement of darker color in that area would designate the associated shoulder and torso of the leisurely reclining character. And if that is a credible interpretation of the artists discursive intentions, the configuration of darker color in the beard as it ascends up the picture plane would have to constitute the legs of the amusingly inverted figure, and as we ponder the positions of the pair of sizable characters whom we have identified, we might be warranted in concluding that the gentleman is observing the comely female in front of, and above, him along the back of the subjects head.

In contrast with the ambiguous character of some of the conceptions which we encountered in the earlier portraits in this sequence, the gentlemans countenance has been imparted with impeccable precision, and there can be no mistaking the artists intentions in his evocation of the visage, nor even in his circumspect impartation of the associated corporal components. In light o the scope of the conception and as a consequence of the conjectured presence of the full human form across the curvilinear expanse of beard the representation would recall the figure which was draped over the subjects head in the youthful likeness to which we alluded in discussing a recent portrait, and it would, as such, indicate the more involved, and occasionally even convoluted, levels of fanciful improvisation which we will encounter in this indulgent and fancifully extravagant art. Whatever else it might be perceived to represent or signify, the image of the lounging character across the lower half of the countenance has invested the likeness with a leisurely quality, even a charm, that is conspicuously lacking in other dimensions of the representation, and it and the alluring creature whom we have encountered along the back of the head

might be seen to have provided a refreshing antidote to the otherwise stifling sterility of the objective exercise.

http://www.buehrle.ch/show_pic.php?lang=en&id_pic=54

FIGURE 29. STILL LIFE, C. 1893. 65 X 80 CM. REWALD 800. ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In a study of some flowers which he executed in his middle thirties a painting which, as a consequence of the presence of the signature which it features, was presumably shown at the third of the Impressionist exhibitions in eighteen seventy-seven the artist conspicuously divided the initial character of his surname into a pair of subordinate components in signing the canvas. Although there may have been some question about the identity of the upper constituent of the curiously constructed character inasmuch as it was inclined and positioned above the adjacent vowel, it could have been construed, for example, as a pedestrian accent aigu we ultimately determined that it was the dot for a lower case i and concluded that the artist had signed himself as payazan, a labored approximation of the French paysan, or peasant. With the exception of his perfunctory submissions to the annual Salon, only one of which was accepted for display in the early eighteen eighties, he would not exhibit his work again for another couple of decades, and he effectively refrained from signing his canvases during the course of that extended interlude.

Finally, in the middle nineties, a dealer arranged to conduct a showing of the artists painting in his Parisian gallery, and one of the pictures which was included in the exhibition was a still life which had been recently executed, a canvas which we will turn to and consider at the moment. As it turns out, Cezanne signed the painting, and after an approximately two decade hiatus, it will be interesting for us to see, of course, if the payazan of yore had survived the passage of time and resurfaced with his provincial identity intact in the cosmopolitan environment of Paris. In fact, the artist would not disappoint

As we look to and inspect the signature in the lower left corner, we will find that the inscription is reasonably straightforward, with the exception, of course and once again of the initial character in the surname. In contrast with the contrived, and inelegant, construction of the capital in the signature in the earlier painting, however, the artist has commenced the inscription with what would appear to be a lower case character, linking it seamlessly with the succeeding letters in the sequence. The character would appear, in fact, to be a lower case i, and when we look to the upper half of the composite, and closure accessed, construction, we will find that there is no ambiguity in the appearance, nor the position, of the suprajacent inflection in contrast with the diagonal alignment of the corresponding constituent in the earlier signature, the inflection in question is horizontal, it is in the vicinity of the initial character of the surname, and there is no question but what the designation was intended to read payazan. It is interesting to find, of course, that the gentleman from Provence, the individual who had retired to his hometown and who had effectively painted in isolation for twenty years had not relinquished his integrity nor sacrificed the artistic persona which he had affected in his painting two decades earlier. As it turns out, the pyrotechnics in the canvases which he had shown in the eighteen seventy-seven Impressionist exhibition would seem like mere childs play twenty years later, and we would have to wonder if, for example, the dubiously adorned hands in the portrait of his wife in the previous chapter were not introduced into the composition in anticipation of the painting being displayed in Paris in eighteen ninety-five.

In the portrait of a youthful associate which he submitted for inclusion in the eighteen sixty-six Salon a picture which was delivered to the site of the exhibition in a wheelbarrow the artist embellished the subjects lap and introduced the figure of a languidly reclining female in the coiffure on top of his head. In the initial Impressionist exhibition of eighteen seventy-four, he displayed an admirably composed and commendably executed landscape, a painting which would appear to have been adorned with a colorful image of the artists person in anticipation of the canvas being presented for public inspection. Several years later, in preparing pictures for inclusion in the third Impressionist exhibition, he elevated the irreverent activity to something approaching a tour de farce, a subject which we will revisit in considerably greater detail in the first of the appendices at the conclusion of this document. And a decade and a half later still, when he was asked to submit a sample of his painting for inclusion in an international exhibition in a neighboring republic, the picture which he selected was the landscape which he had executed approximately twenty years earlier, the one in which he was indecorously relieving himself at the base of a foreground slope. All of which brings us to the eighty ninety-five gallery exhibition in Paris, a show in which, as we have remarked, the payazan of yore was unquestionably present in, at very least, the current still life, and quite possibly in evidence in representations such as the hands in the portrait of the artists wife in the previous chapter, images which were potentially added to the canvases, of course, in anticipation of them being displayed in a cosmopolitan milieu.

Although we have avoided the subject up to this point, we should be aware that there is, additionally, a significant amount of verbal activity in these mischievously adorned, and colorfully embellished, canvases, and although it would be imprudent for an individual who is only marginally conversant with French to attempt to decipher that activity, we will take a moment before concluding our discussion of the present painting and consider an example of one such interpolation in the lower left corner. In fact, as we examine the table top immediately above the signature, we will find that there is an involved se-

quence of lighter brushstrokes in that quarter, an arrangement which would appear to feature some recognizable characters of the alphabet at its conclusion on the right and one which has been obscured by some presumably camouflaging activity in and about the antecedent characters along the border of the painting on the left. In light of its proximity to the infrajacent punning signature, it would not be surprising if the conjectured inscription contained another allusion to Cezannes colorful artistic persona, perhaps a cognomen although that is merely speculation and one would have to shudder at the prospect of the artist venting himself verbally in these paintings after having endured a lifetime of unprecedented disdain and derision. In any event, returning to our narrative, Paris was about to be exposed to an artistic onslaught of significant proportion in eighteen ninety-five courtesy, of course, of the self proclaimed payazan from Provence an onslaught of which it would remain largely ignorant at the time and about which it is still arguably oblivious a century and a quarter later.

http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/111436?search_no=3&index=9

FIGURE 30. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1890-92. 62 X 51 CM. REWALD 685. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

In the third of the canvases which we will examine in this chapter, a portrait of the artists wife from the painting of his early fifties, we will consider another example of the infra-nasal constructions which we have encountered from time to time most recently, of course, in the representation of some biblical ablutions in the previous chapter and we will begin to appreciate the economy of means which Cezanne would occasionally employ in imparting those constructions in the work of his maturity. We will, however, by way of introduction to the fanciful phenomena which are present in the painting, commence our discussion by examining the subjects eyes, components of these images which we have ignored in the course of the preceding exposition and representations which would provide the framework for an impressive volume of imaginative activity, most of it microscopic, in the artists many portraits. As we incline our heads and zoom in on the image on the right side of the face, we will encounter, in fact, the features of another of the many variably illuminated visages which are present in these paintings, the eyes of the secondary con-

struction having been imparted, of course, by the inflections of darker color across the top of the representation, the highlighted nose present in the underlying column of lighter pigment, and the gaping mouth and a pair of ungainly teeth having been described by the punctuations of lighter and darker color across the base of the construction. As we observed in our inspection of the ear in a self portrait from the artists forties, the secondary constructions in these paintings would quickly morph into tertiary, and even quaternary, conceptions, and as an example of that evolutionary practice and devolutionary process, we will discover, as we proceed to the immediate left, that the artist has described the figure of a second fanciful construction along the side and beneath the base of the initial image in the sequence. The accent below the chin would designate an eye, the complementary inflection of darker color on the left would constitute a second eye, and the infrajacent punctuation of lighter pigment would represent a typically highlighted nose. The line of darker pigment across the bottom of the image would designate a modestly dimensioned and uncommonly severe mouth, the similarly constituted line on the left side of the countenance would define the contour along the border of a cheek, and inasmuch as the implied illumination, apparently intense, is from the right, the hatted and light-effaced visage dissolves into insignificance on that side of the representation. If we were so inclined, we could, of course, effect a cursory inspection of the subjects mouth, and we would discover that the artist has described the figure of another diagonally aligned, laterally illuminated, and fragmentarily hatted head in that quarter, a representation whose features will be discerned in the lighter color in and about the lower lip and one which is, in fact, considerably more fully developed than the sibling conceptions around the image of the suprajacent eye.

In any event, as we turn to and examine the head in the focal reproduction in the sequence, we will proceed from the fanciful minutiae which are present in the representation to the significantly larger infra-nasal construction in which we are interested, a construction which, although not frenhoferian in scope, is unquestionably more obscure that the majority of its predecessors. We will find, in fact, as we inspect the countenance, that the line of darker pigment along the left side of the mouth has picked up and continued the outline of the nose fur-

ther up the picture plane, we will observe that there is a columnar arrangement of predominantly lighter color on the right side of that linear progression, and as we examine the inflections of darker pigment in the middle of the latter configuration, we will discover that they describe the features of a sizable male countenance across the lower half of the subjects face. The exposed nostril would represent an eye on the left side of the subordinate construction, the shadow around the suprajacent flange would constitute an associated eyebrow, the darker of the accents upon the cheek at precisely the same elevation as the aforeferenced nostril would describe the figures of a second eye and eyebrow, and the shadow between the lips on the right side of the mouth would define the outline along the base of an otherwise featureless nose. The line of darker pigment upon the chin would designate the shadow between a pair of ample and dexterously imparted lips, the lower of which has been illuminated, the crescent of contrasting color upon the cheek would define the outline around the visage on the right side of the construction, and the area between the base of the nose and the bottom of the eye would represent the forehead of the subordinate figure, the eyebrow describing the shadow across the top of a complementary cap. The image is, of course, significantly more discreetly imparted than the corresponding conception which we encountered in the representation of a biblical bath in the previous chapter, and in light of that fact, we may well find that, in our efforts to apprehend the construction, it is advantageous to reduce the dimensions of the reproduction. In fact, this is not a portrait of Madame Cezanne, strictly speaking, it is, at best, a Portrait of Madame Cezanne and Consort, and as we ponder the image of the companion character in the center of the countenance, we will appreciate the representational facility which has been evidenced in the artists dexterous impartation of the figure, a diaphanous construction of indisputable charm and beauty from the self-proclaimed payazan of Provence.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/portrait-of-madamec%C3%A9zanne/pQGpXXB6A018rA?projectId=art-project

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FIGURE 31. FEMALE PORTRAIT, C. 1895. 130 X 97 CM. REWALD 781. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

In another picture which would have been a prime candidate for inclusion in the eighteen ninety-five gallery exhibition a sizable portrait of a woman with a coffee pot, and a painting which is presumed to have been executed in, or about, the year of the show we will find that Cezannes antic enthusiasms and artistic wit are abundantly in evidence. In keeping with the approach

which we effected in addressing each of the previous two portraits, we will commence our discussion of the painting with a consideration of an introductory conception before turning to and inspecting the primary construction that will be of interest to us. As we zoom in on the hand on the right, we will find that, although the representation is not nearly as peculiar nor as problematic as the ones which we encountered in an earlier portrait of the artists wife, it possesses some curious features and, like its predecessors, appears to have been converted into the figure of a diminutive fanciful character. In fact, we will discover that the shadow on the right side of the wrist has been fashioned into the image of a moderately inclined, variably illuminated, and typically hatted male head a construction which is, it should be indicated, a diminution, or contraction, of a more sizable countenance in that quarter and as we look to the back of the underlying hand, we will encounter the suggestion of some complementary corporal components in that portion of the representation. The subdued color on the right would describe, in fact, the featureless torso of the diminutive character, the index and middle fingers would represent the elevated calves of his apparently seated form, and the configuration of lighter color on the left would designate the highlighted shoulder, arm, and hip on the other side of his body. When we examine the upper half of the index finger, we will observe, of course, that the right arm is not resting upon the knee but is dangling behind the calf, in the vicinity of the obscured abdomen, a fact which, as a consequence of the presence of the dubious activity in the aforeferenced pair of appendages in another portrait from the period, could be significant. As it turns out, these colorful metamorphoses of the hands do not make sense other, of course, than having been introduced into the paintings prior to them having been submitted for public inspection, with the presumptive intention of offending bourgeois sensibilities, oblivious though the audience would have been to their existence and if that is a viable explanation for the presence of the phenomena in question in these canvases, the manual image before us might be seen to constitute some circumstantial evidence that the portrait was indeed included in the eighteen ninety-five gallery show in Paris.

As it turns out, the instrument of variable illumination would afford the artist a means of exercising his mischievous, and occasionally indelicate, fancy in an

imperceptible manner, and as a means of considering one such circumspect application, we will turn to and examine the modest arrangement of hair on top of the subjects head. We will find that there is, of course, an anomalous compartment of color in the middle of the representation, immediately above the forehead, and as we incline our heads to the left and consider that arrangement at an angle, we will observe that there are some conspicuous inflections of darker pigment in the shadow along the right side of the bi-chromatic configuration. As we proceed with our inspection of those inflections, we should, in fact, have little problem in identifying the inclined male countenance whose features they would delineate. There are a pair of conspicuous eyes across the top of the columnar arrangement of shadow, there is the suggestion of an associated nose in the underlying inflection of lighter color, and there is a complementary mouth, with a pair of pursed lips, in the punctuations of darker pigment along the base of the configuration. We will find, as we effect a more abstracted consideration of the particulars, that the subdued pigment on the left would constitute the shaded half of the countenance and that the lighter color on the right would represent the illuminated, and featureless, half of the visage, and as we look to and consider the contiguous arrangement of color above the representation, we will identify what would appear to be an appealingly conformed hat further up the picture plane, a headpiece which, as a consequence of its rigid crown, may be another of the bowler hats in which the artist was interested, most recently encountered, of course, in a portrait of his adolescent son. As we ponder the relationship of the foreground compartment of color to the crescent-like background coiffure apprised of the character of the arcane iconography with which we have become acquainted, and aware of the artists robust sense of humor we will identify what would appear to be the arms of the male character in the projections of analogous color along either side of the focal countenance. And if that is an accurate reading of the representation and a valid reconstruction of the artists narrative intentions, the character under discussion is sprawled across the top of the pate, arms clinging to the temples and lower body dangling off the back of the head like a pony tail, a conception which would have to be characterized as one of the more intriguing efflorescences of fancy in an oeuvre replete with artistic caprioles in the m icroscopic as well, it would appear, as in the macroscopic dimensions of these paintings.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/woman-with-acoffeepot/sQEIYLkU0bt2GQ?projectId=art-project

FIGURE 32. CARD PLAYER, 1890-92. 50 X 46 CM. REWALD 709. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

Although the representation which we encountered in the portrait of the artists wife was a variation of the infra-nasal phenomena in which we were interested, the conception was facial as opposed to the facio-cervical images which we had identified in several of the earlier canvases and in an effort to address that problem and to rectify that deficiency, we will take a moment and consider an example of the latter constructions in another painting from the artists early fifties, a study of a profiled card player. Much as we opened our discussion of the portrait of the artists wife with some preliminary references to the eyes and mouth, we will commence the present exposition with an introductory allusion to the ear on the right side of the subjects head, significantly enlarging the image by zooming in on the representation. We will find, in fact, as we examine the lighter color in the middle of the ear on the right side of the conspicuous column of darker pigment in that quarter that the shadow merges with the remarked arrangement and forms a bipartite chromatic configuration, laterally illuminated as it were, on that side of the image. We will discover, of course, as

we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, that there are some conspicuous inflections of darker pigment across the upper half of the composite arrangement, and as we contemplate those inflections, we should have little problem in apprehending the dexterously imparted and diaphanously constituted head predominantly illuminated, with an abbreviated striation of shadow along the left side of the hatted construction in the middle of the ear.

As we remove ourselves from the reproduction and endeavor to effect a more abstracted consideration of the card players head, we will find that there is an interesting constellation of accents across the base of the countenance, and we will commence our discussion of the infra-nasal construction in which we are interested by identifying those conspicuous, and ultimately critical, components of the representation. The first of the remarked components will be discerned in the ellipse around the image of the subjects lower lip an image which has been obscured, of course, by the hatted and bearded male head which has been described beneath the moustache along the margin of the subjects countenance and the second such component will be distinguished in the corresponding ellipse which is present beneath the crease in the flesh across the lower, and darker, portion of the cheek. The third, and final, component will be identified in the discrete arrangement of darker color vaguely ovoid, although appreciably smaller than the suprajacent, and aforeferenced, ellipses beneath the terminus of the moustache along the contour of the jaw, and as we remove ourselves from the reproduction, incline our heads to the left, and effect an abstracted consideration of the triangular constellation of components, we will discover that the artist has described the figure of what would appear to be a juvenile face across the base of the subjects countenance. The upper ellipses would represent, of course, a pair of conspicuous eyes, diagonally aligned, across the top of the subordinate construction, the infrajacent arrangement of darker pigment would constitute a complementary mouth along the base of the inclined visage, and the lighter color across the upper portion of the subjects face would represent a perfunctorily imparted and loosely conformed hat on top of the pate, the nose as in earlier conceptions describing the projecting brim of the headpiece along the left side of the accoutrement.

The dimensions of the construction are, of course, consistent with those in the other representations which we have been addressing in these pages, but we should be aware that the image is actually a contraction of a considerably larger such conception facio-cervical, as it were across the flank of the subjects head and neck. The conspicuous caret of darker pigment in the shadow beneath the jaw would designate the parted lips and open mouth in the latter construction, the lighter color along the left side of the infrajacent neck would constitute the projecting chin in the distended representation, and although the conception is more sizable and significantly more abstract than its predecessors in this sequence, the animated countenance and the dexterously accoutered pate should be reasonably accessible upon extended examination of the particulars, and we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the construction for the moment. We will, as has been indicated, consider another, and arguably more felicitous, example of these facio-cervical conceptions in a study of the artists wife one of the sequence of red dress portraits in the painting of Cezannes later forties and early fifties in the Afterword at the conclusion of this document.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/thecardplayer/8AEfnGUA8A-oNQ?projectId=art-project

FIGURE 33. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 651. FONDATION BEYELER, BASEL (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the concluding painting in the present chapter, one of a series of portraits of the artists wife in a rouge dress, we will consider a variation of some of the more sizable facial conversions which we have encountered in the second half of this document, most recently, of course, in the immediately preceding canvas. In a copy of a magazine reproduction which Cezanne executed during his early thirties a painting which we addressed, of course, in the second chapter we observed that there were some interesting features in the representation of the head of the female character on the left side of the composition. We found, in fact, that there were a pair of anomalous accents of darker pigment between the mouth and the illuminated chin each of which was accompanied by a suprajacent inflection of lighter color and as we effected a broader contemplation of the objective particulars, we discovered that the darker punctuations described a pair of eyes beneath a set of illuminated eyelids. Proceeding down the picture plane, we encountered the figure of an associated nose in the image of the underlying chin, and we identified the representation of a complemen-

tary mouth in the indentation of the contour of lighter color along the flank of the contiguous neck. The subjects nose, of course, represented the projecting brim of a headpiece on top of the three-quarter profile, the arrangement of lighter color upon the brow represented the crown of that same casually imparted accoutrement, and the entire visage including, of course, the infrajacent neck had been fashioned into the figure of a diminutive masculine character.

As we turn to and consider the representation of the artists wife with that precedent in mind, we will find that there are, in fact, a pair of analogous punctuations of darker pigment beneath the mouth, that there is an important inflection of lighter color along the right side of those conspicuous inflections, and we will discover, as we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, that the subjects face and neck have been fashioned into the figure of another partially profiled, and ponderously hatted, male head. The remarked inflections of darker pigment would represent a pair of eyes, the contour along the margin of the underlying configuration of lighter color would articulate the outline around an illuminated nose, and the shadow beneath the chin, as it projects incongruously off to the right, would describe the figure of a prominent mouth along the base of the three-quarter profile. The projecting brim of a hat will be distinguished, of course, in the figure of the overhead nose, and in almost identical fashion to the metamorphosis which was effected in the copy of a magazine reproduction twenty years earlier, the entire representation has been transformed into the figure, however discreetly, of another hatted masculine head. Inasmuch as the construction is admittedly quite abstract, we may find that it is advantageous to reduce the dimensions of the reproduction until the conception becomes accessible a point which will presumably vary, depending upon an individuals visual acuity and in any event, the representation might be seen to indicate the character of the more obscure imaginative phenomena which we can encounter in the portrait heads in this unabashedly imaginative oeuvre.

http://www.fondationbeyeler.ch/en/collection/paul-c-zanne

CHAPTER TWELVE

FIGURE 34. SELF PORTRAIT, 1898-1900. 63 X 51 CM. REWALD 834. MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO)

In the first of the paintings which we will examine in this concluding chapter, another of the numerous self portraits which the artist executed during the course of his career, we will, after addressing an introductory adornment of the nose, turn to and consider an example of the extra-facial constructions which are present in these late-life portraits. We will find, of course, in zooming in on the representation, that the highlights around the tip of the nose have been

fashioned into the figure of a delicately imparted and becomingly hatted male head, an image which, like several of its predecessors in this sequence, would appear to have been accompanied by an elevated arm in the dexterously foreshortened conjunction of fore and background components. We will encounter an approximation of a high crowned hat, for instance, in the conical arrangement of lighter color at the top of the chromatic configuration, we will identify the eyebrow, eyes and mouth of an associated countenance in the inflections of darker pigment beneath the brim, and we will discover that the circumscribing arrangement of lighter color around the middle of the representation would describe the cheeks along either side of the aforeferenced constellation of features. Inasmuch as the reproduction is, as has been indicated, significantly larger than life size, the image might be seen to indicate the minute dimensions in which the artist would occasionally work in exercising his fancy, confirm the fact that he was employing some manner of pointed implement in articulating the likes of these diminutive constructions, and ultimately corroborate the earlier assertion that the Frenhoferian perception which we investigated in Bonjour Cezanne was as singular in its microscopic as in its macroscopic dimension.

As we proceed to the succeeding reproduction in the sequence and turn to and consider the representation of the subjects coat, we will encounter a significantly larger such construction along the left side of the torso, and as we ponder the character of the expression upon the face of the creature whom we will identify, we will appreciate that the amusement which had abounded in the painting of earlier decades had survived the ravages of time ravages writ large, of course, upon the figure of the suprajacent visage and found continued articulation in these late-life paintings. Paralleling the approach which we employed in addressing the introductory nasal adornment, we will observe that there is the suggestion of a high crowned, broad brimmed, and modestly inclined hat in the darker color across the subjects chest a headpiece which has cast, in fact, a substantial shadow across the upper portion of the underlying face and as we proceed down the picture plane, we will identify a pair of eyes in the inflections of lighter and darker pigment immediately beneath the shadow, a modestly dimensioned and appropriately illuminated nose in the proximate arrangement of lighter pigment, and the figure of a sizable, immod-

erately smiling, and dentally adorned mouth in the conspicuous arrangement of darker color across the base of the countenance. When we look to the striation of lighter color beneath the jaw, we will encounter a portion of the underlying chest in that quarter of the representation, and proceeding across the picture plane to the left, we will apprehend the figures of an associated shoulder and elevated forearm in the anomalous arrangement of color along the margin of the casually imparted form. The vertical configuration above the cuff of the sleeve, and along the side of the contiguous visage, would represent the elevated hand of the character, and if we had the time and the inclination, we would could proceed with our inspection of the particulars, and we would discover that the construction has been divided along the side of the hand into a pair of smaller such conceptions, creating a social vignette in which, as it turns out, the jaw would represent the figure of an extended arm, accounting, of course, for the peculiar conformation of the mouth. For the moment, however, we need only note the presence of the animated expression upon the countenance and appreciate perhaps incredulously the curious incongruity of such a buffoonish image being present in a portrait which is otherwise characterized by sobriety and even gravity.

http://zoom.mfa.org/fif=sc1/sc146.fpx&obj=iip,1.0&wid=960&cvt=jpeg

FIGURE 35. FEMALE BATHERS, 1906. 208 X 249 CM. REWALD 857. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART, PHILADELPHIA. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)

As we proceed to and examine the finest of the sizable bathing compositions which Cezanne executed during his later years, we will consider the manner in which the fanciful diversion and imaginative divertissement which we have been investigating would be expressed in those culminating canvases. When we zoom in on the face of the female in front of the tree on the right side of the composition precisely the sort of representation which baffled, perplexed and ultimately dismayed the artists contemporaries we will find little evidence of an interest in, nor enthusiasm for, the time honored practice of artistic verisimilitude. As we examine the intermediate color on the right side of the nose, we will encounter, in fact, the figure of a sizable fanciful construction, a conception which would recall, of course, the dimensions of the focal representation which we considered in the painting of a pair of cardplayers in the previous chapter. The darker color in and about the eyebrow would designate some hair on top of the head, the detailed brushwork in the shadow along the side of the nose would describe a pair of eyes, and in light of its relationship to

the referenced pair of particulars, the contour along the chromatic disjunction further down the picture plane would articulate the outline along the crest of a nose. Proceeding lower still, we will find that the indentation in the contour beneath the subjects nose would represent an expressively imparted and even, it would appear, dentally adorned mouth, and as we ponder the character of the image in broader terms, we will discover that the subdued color upon the nose would constitute the shaded portion of the countenance along the left side of the construction and across the base of the infrajacent jaw. If we were to proceed with our inspection of the particulars, we would find, of course, that the shadow around the eyebrow on the same side of the representation the hair in the secondary conception with which we have concerned ourselves has been fashioned into the figure of an immoderately smiling character, apparently female, a construction which has been subsequently been converted into the inclined image of another female countenance in the underlying compartment of bare canvas. Obviously, the fanciful diversion which we encountered in earlier portraits and figure studies has assumed a progressive ascendancy in the present canvas , and there has, as a consequence, been no effort to dexterously integrate the objective and subjective dimensions of the representation, the female head dissolving quickly into a carnivalic display of imaginative divertissement.

As we proceed to the right side of the painting and consider the image of the foreground bather along the border of the composition, we will encounter another, significantly more sizable, and arguably more revealing example of the artists imaginative disportation in that quarter of the canvas. It would appear, in fact, that the character in question is kneeling and that her imposing form has obscured the lower body of her background neighbor an individual whose upper torso, right arm, and hair are visible above the foreground head, and a character who, in any event, is faced off to the right side of the fluvial setting but we will find, as we ponder the curious conformation of her anatomy, that there is a significant problem with such a reading of the representation. We will discover, in fact, upon further inspection of the particulars, that the artist has superimposed the legs and hips of the background character upon the figure of her foreground companion ultimately accounting, of course, for the

peculiar conformation of the latter's shoulders and for the improbable, even impossible, curvature of her arms and that the nominally obscured character has emerged into the foreground and eclipsed, in the process, the figure of her seated companion, an inversion which would appear to have constituted an impulsive, and visually punning, adaptation of the original dispositions of the figures. Although the inversion of the spatial relationships is an amusing, if modest, embellishment of the canvas, we will perceive in the referenced transposition some further evidence of the imaginative recreation which abounds in these paintings and an eloquent reminder of the impulsiveness which inheres in and characterizes this unquestionably mercurial art.

http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/the-largebathers/owGszazN_Evyvw?projectId=art-project

FIGURE 36. COUNTRY SCENE, 65 X 81 CM. 1906. REWALD 947. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)

In the third painting which we will consider in this chapter a canvas which is presumed to have been the artists final landscape, executed shortly before his decease in the autumn of nineteen six we will discover that the exuberance and jocularity which had characterized this art for several decades was, with the artists declining health, about to subside. As we examine the components of the motif across the lower third of the composition, we will find that the path and the grass around the door to the residence have been fashioned into the figures of a goateed face and hooded head, a representation which would appear to be continued in the horizontal arrangement of greenery across the middle of the yard and an image which, as a consequence of the repeated references to his person in this autobiographical painting, was presumably intended to represent the ascetic and similarly bearded artist (see the contemporaneous bust of the gentleman at the conclusion of this document). As we look to the sequestered compartment of analogous color in the lower left corner, we will encounter a configuration which might additionally be con-

strued to represent the elevated arm and clenched fist of the recumbent figure, a combative posture which might lead us to wonder if the supine, and potentially indisposed, character presumably the artist, a short time before his decease was contending with some manner of adversary, figurative or otherwise. As we turn to and inspect the prominent striation of intermediate pigment above the recumbent form, we will discover, in fact, that the arrangement in question has been fashioned into the figure of what would appear to be a canine or lupine creature in any event, a quadruped the hind legs of which are visible on the left, the elongated torso of which is present in the middle of the arrangement, and the elevated front leg and angular head of which are visible on the right, around the terminus of the recumbent human form. The last time we encountered an image of the artist in these landscapes, he was propped against a tree, lingering leisurely on a slope above a village on the Mediterranean coast, and it is apparent, as we examine the touching spectacle before us, that this was a different day and an altogether different time. In fact, elevated arm and clenched fist notwithstanding, the aggressively striding, and presumably predatory, creature above the figure of the recumbent artist would prevail in the present circumstances, and the exuberance which we have encountered in this oeuvre, most strikingly, of course, in the canvases of his maturity, recently considered would no longer be expressed in this theretofore buoyant and irrepressible art.

Then he will carry his secret into the grave, an associate commented in a correspondence shortly after Cezannes decease in nineteen six the same associate, incidentally, who took the accompanying photograph for he wanted to tell me all, he wrote me, and I dont know what he meant by that.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106569478038418935782/PaulCezanne?noredirect =1 - 5004174891257122946

REPRODUCTIONS

Inasmuch as this frenhoferian art features a tenuous relationship with the phenomena of objective reality, the conventional titles of the paintings, typically anecdotal, have been replaced with categoric substitutes.

The Rewald Catalog Raisonne (Abrams; New York, 1996) is the definitive reference work for Cezannes paintings, and the conjectured dates of execution for the canvases have been obtained from that source.

In rare instances, when there are significant differences, dates have been secured from the earlier Venturi Catalog Raisonne (Rosenberg; Paris, 1936) and an asterisk has been appended to the inscriptions on those occasions.

The dimensions of the canvases have been obtained from the Rewald catalog even when there is a disparity with museum measurements and the Rewald catalog numbers have additionally been provided.

Finally, the collections, the photographic sources, and the page numbers on which the paintings have been reproduced have been indicated at the conclusion of the information streams.

PAINTINGS

FIGURE 1. MALE PORTRAIT, 1862-64. 46 C 37 CM. REWALD 073. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI-PAINTINGS PHOTO) P6

FIGURE 2. ANTONY VALABREGUE, 1866. 116 X 98 CM. REWALD 094. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P8

FIGURE 3. STUDIO MODEL, C. 1867. 107 X 83 CM. REWALD 120. MUSEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P10

FIGURE 4. FEMALE BATHER, C. 1869. 29 X 13 CM. REWALD 114. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO) P12

FIGURE 5. FIGURE COMPOSITION, 1871. 57 X 47 CM. REWALD 153. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO) P14

FIGURE 6. PAIR OF HEADS, C. 1870. 71 X 57 CM. REWALD 155. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI-PAINTINGS PHOTO) P16

FIGURE 7. FIGURE COMPOSITION, C. 1870. 41 X 55 CM. REWALD 163. CIVICA GALLERIA DARTE MODERNA, MILAN. (R/M/N PHOTO) P18

FIGURE 8. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1871. 55 X 39 CM. REWALD 174. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P21

FIGURE 9. VILLAGE SCENE, C. 1873. 55 X 66 CM. REWALD 202. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO) P23

FIGURE 10. STILL LIFE, 1873. 41 X 27 CM. REWALD 227. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO) P25

FIGURE 11. FEMALE BATHERS, 1875-76. 38 X 46 CM. REWALD 256. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P27

FIGURE 12. VILLAGE SCENE, 1872-73. 46 X 38 CM. REWALD 192. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO) P29

FIGURE 13. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 55 X 38 CM. REWALD 219. HERMITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P31

FIGURE 14. MALE BATHERS, 1876-77. 24 X 25 CM. REWALD 254. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTO) P33

FIGURE 15. STILL LIFE, C. 1877. 46 X 55 CM. REWALD 348. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P35

FIGURE 16. SELF PORTRAIT, 1881-82. 56 X 46 CM. REWALD 510. BAYERISCHE STAATSGEMALDESAMMLUNGEN, MUNICH. (R/M/N PHOTO) P38

FIGURE 17. MARITIME SCENE, 1882-83. 73 X 90 CM. REWALD 518. READERS DIGEST COLLECTION, NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO) P41

FIGURE 18. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1878-88. 93 X 73 CM. REWALD 706. BUHRLE FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P43

FIGURE 19. SELF PORTRAIT, 1879-80. 34 X 25 CM. REWALD 416. OSKAR REINHART FOUNDATION, WINTERTHUR. (ATHENAEUM PHOTO) P46

FIGURE 20. MARITIME SCENE, 1879-83. 60 X 73 CM. REWALD 444. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P48

FIGURE 21. FEMALE BATHERS, 1883-85. 63 X 84 CM. REWALD 553. STAATSGALERIE STUTTGART. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P50

FIGURE 22. THE ARTISTS WIFE, C. 1890. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 684. MUSEE DE LORANGERIE, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P53

FIGURE 23. FEMALE BATHERS, C. 1885. 65 X 65 CM. REWALD 554. KUNSTMUSEUM BASEL. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P55

FIGURE 24. THE ARTISTS SON, 1888-90. 65 X 54 CM. REWALD 649. NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P57

FIGURE 25. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 653. ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P61

FIGURE 26. CARD PLAYERS, 1890-92. 65 X 81 CM. REWALD 707. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO) P64

FIGURE 27. COUNTRY SCENE, C. 1890. 62 X 92 CM. REWALD 698. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P66

FIGURE 28. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1890. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 670. BUHRLE FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P68

FIGURE 29. STILL LIFE, C. 1893. 65 X 80 CM. REWALD 800. ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P72

FIGURE 30. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1890-92. 62 X 51 CM. REWALD 685. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P76

FIGURE 31. FEMALE PORTRAIT, C. 1895. 130 X 97 CM. REWALD 781. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P79

FIGURE 32. CARD PLAYER, 1890-92. 50 X 46 CM. REWALD 709. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P83

FIGURE 33. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 81 X 65 CM. REWALD 651. FONDATION BEYELER, BASEL (MUSEUM PHOTO) P86

FIGURE 34. SELF PORTRAIT, 1898-1900. 63 X 51 CM. REWALD 834. MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON. (MUSEUM PHOTO) P88

FIGURE 35. FEMALE BATHERS, 1906. 208 X 249 CM. REWALD 857. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO) P91

FIGURE 36. COUNTRY SCENE, 65 X 81 CM. 1906. REWALD 947. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO) P94

IMAGES

FIGURE 37. PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ARTIST, C. 1872. PRIVATE COLLECTION. (GOOGLE IMAGES) F7/P18

FIGURE 38. THE ARTISTS WIFE (X-RAY), 1879-83. 60 X 74 CM. PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. (MUSEUM PHOTOGRAPH) F20/P48

FIGURE 39. BUST OF THE ARTIST (BY SOLARI), 1904-05. 50 X 37 X 30 CM. MUSEE DORSAY, PARIS. (R/M/N PHOTOGRAPH) F36/P94