The Courtauld Cézannes on Display
Courtauld Institute of Art Celebrates 75th Anniversary
Jul 2, 2008
The Courtauld Institute of Art, dedicated to the study of art history, was established in 1932 by the art collector Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947). The Courtauld Gallery is proud to possess Britain's finest collection of art by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906).
Samuel Courtauld's Vision
Samuel Courtauld started his collection in 1923 and in 1932 it formed the basis of the founding gift that established the Courtauld Institute. To celebrate its 75th anniversary the Courtauld Gallery is showing its entire collection of Cézannes. The collection includes a very wide range of exceptionally high quality pieces, including paintings, watercolours and drawings.
Cézanne - the Father of Modern Art
Cézanne developed his skills at the Saint Joseph boarding school where he was taught, from the age of 10, by the Spanish monk, Joseph Gilbert. 1852 found him enrolled at the College Bourbon (now College Mignet) where he became friends with the novelist Émile Zola. While Cézanne was studying art his father, a wealthy banker, insisted that he also studied law at the University of Aix. In 1861, against his father's wishes, Cézanne moved to Paris to follow his artistic dream. Cézanne's father did eventually support the artist's choice of career and Cézanne subsequently received a large inheritance from his father.
Paul Cézanne, now regarded by many as the Father of Modern Art, admired and was influenced by many artists including Eugene Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Édouard Manet and Camille Pisarro.
His Unusual Approach led to Rejection
The exhibition explores the development of Cézanne's sometimes controversial approach. His work was vastly different to that of his contemporaries and was rejected by the Paris Salon in 1870. In 1874 he entered some of his work into the first Impressionist group exhibition but remained unpopular with both collectors and critics.
The exhibition is dominated by Montagne Sainte-Victoire (1887). He loved this mountain and painted it at least 60 times from every conceivable angle. In 1895 Cézanne showed this painting at an exhibition by local amateur painters. Joachim Gasquet, a poet, liked the painting which Cézanne signed and presented to him. In 1906, two years after Cézanne's death, the painting sold for the sum of 12,000 francs - a lot of money for something that so few liked!
Cézanne painted several portraits and many feature in the exhibition including Man with a Pipe (1892-5) which depicts a gardener on Cézanne's estate. The same character appears in Card Players (1892-5).
Letters to his Protégé
Also displayed is a set of nine hand-written letters that Cézanne wrote to the up-and-coming artist Emile Bernard (1868-1941). His instructions seem to be about attitude rather than painterly technique. On 15 April 1904 Cézanne advised Bernard: “treat nature in terms of the cylinder, the sphere and the cone”, an instruction that subsequently formed the basis for the move towards abstraction that occurred in the twentieth century.
The Courtauld Cézannes - the Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue. The Institute presents the results of a research project carried out in the Courtauld Institute of Art Department of Conservation. The project looked at how Cézanne used colour and line, his technique and working methods. The book features essays, copies of the Bernard letters with fresh translations, plus reproductions of all the works on display.
The Courtauld Cézannes runs from 26th June to 5th October 2008 and full details can be obtained from the Courtauld Gallery.
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