Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Apples. 1895-98

Paul Cézanne Still Life with Apples 1895-98

  • Not on view

Still Life with Apples demonstrates that the genre of still life can be a vehicle for faithfully representing not only objects but also the appearance of light and space. Painting from nature is not copying the object, Cézanne wrote, it is realizing ones sensations. He consistently drew attention to the quality of the paint and canvasnever aiming for illusion. For example, the edges of the fruit in the bowl are undefined and appear to shift. Rules of perspective, too, are broken; the right corner of the table tilts forward and is not aligned with the left side. Some areas of canvas are left bare, and others, like the drape of the tablecloth, appear unfinished. Still Life with Apples is more than an imitation of lifeit is an exploration of seeing and the very nature of painting.

Gallery label from 2012.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
27 x 36 1/2" (68.6 x 92.7 cm)
Credit
Lillie P. Bliss Collection
Object number
22.1934
Department
Painting and Sculpture

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Provenance Research Project

This work is included in the Provenance Research Project, which investigates the ownership history of works in MoMA's collection.

Paul Cézanne, Provence, France.
Ambroise Vollard, Paris (no. 3489), purchased from the artist.
By 1907 - ?, Maurice Gangnat (1856-1924), Paris.
C. 1913, Paul Rosenberg, Paris.
[Durand-Ruel, Paris]
By 1917 - 1922, Dikran Khan Kélékian (1868-1951), Paris and New York, sold at the auction sale of the Kélékian collection, The American Art Association, New York, January 30-31, 1922, lot 156.
January 31, 1922 - 1931, Lillie P. Bliss (1864-1931), New York, purchased at the auction sale of the Kélékian collection.
1931/1934, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, acquired by bequest from Lillie P. Bliss.

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