Cézanne, Paul: Portraits of Mme Cézanne
Cézanne had to fight to become an artist. Born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839,
the only son of a man who made a fortune in hats and bought the town bank,
young Paul was expected to become a lawyer before taking over as bank
manager. After a short stint at law school, he managed to convince
Cézanne senior that art was his destiny and Paris was calling.
His father believed respect only came through hard, honest work,
and that choosing to be an artist was a bad move, with or without talent.
He refused to support him. It was a difficult adjustment, and Cézanne
could cope with being in the capital only for short periods of time.
Provence remained his home.
On his first Paris trip, he met Marie-Hortense Fiquet, the model who
eventually became his wife and the mother of his only child. Poor
Hortense. She never liked Provence, and she never understood her
husband. The feeling was mutual. Cézanne didn't understand women at all
and she was no exception. She didn't like his pictures much either.
She preferred the city lights to the south of France, so they lived
apart much of the time. She dutifully posed for her husband during
summers in Aix, but these portraits show her with a remote, inscrutable
look, with eyes that never meet the viewer's. She didn't get much out
of the marriage. Paul kept her a secret from the family for years,
and because he seldom sold a painting (although he did barter them for
art supplies from Père Tanguy, as did
van Gogh) and did not get much
money from home until his father's death, money was always tight.
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Madame Cézanne
1885-87 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 92.6 x 72.9 cm (36 1/2 x 28 3/4 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
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Madame Cézanne en bleu (in Blue)
c. 1886 (160 Kb);
Oil on canvas, 73.6 x 61 cm (29 x 24");
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX;
Venturi no. 529
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Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune (in a Yellow Chair)
1888-90 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 81 x 64.9 cm (31 7/8 x 25 5/8");
The Art Institute of Chicago; Venturi no. 572
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Madame Cézanne aux cheveux dénoués (with Unbound Hair)
1890-92 (120 Kb); Oil on canvas, 61.9 x 50.8 cm (24 5/8 x 20");
Philadelphia Museum of Art; Venturi no. 527
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Woman in a Green Hat (Madame Cézanne)
1894-95 (90 Kb); Oil on canvas, 100.2 x 81.2 cm (39 1/2 x 32 in);
The Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania
© 8 Oct 1995,
Nicolas Pioch -
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