SECRET CEZANNE MANUSCRIPT

7/27/2019 SECRET CEZANNE MANUSCRIPT

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This is an introduction to a painting which is arguably the most significant efflo-

rescence of artistic genius in history, an inscrutable painting of which the world has

been ignorant for the past one hundred fifty years.

Then he will carry his secret into the grave, an associate commented shortly after

Cezannes decease in nineteen six, for he wanted to tell me all, he wrote me, and I

dont know what he meant by that.

A little over a century later, we have an opportunity to become acquainted with that

inscrutable painting and to appreciate, in the process, the character of the confidence

which the artist proposed to share with an associate.

Alas, the intended revelation is no longer enigmatic this, as it turns out, is the sto-

ry behind that remarkable artistic secret.


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SECRET CEZANNE

AUTUMN

2013


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ANNOTATION

Image size is unquestionably the most important variable in accessing the phe-

nomena which we will be addressing in this document, and that being the case,

the reproductions which accompany the text are modestly dimensioned. In an

effort to facilitate apprehension of the remarked phenomena, a companion col-

lection of schematic diagrams has been included with the manuscript, and it

can be employed in inspecting the images as the document is being examined in

an adjacent window. In certain instances, there may be a need to reduce the

dimensions of the reproductions by diminishing the sizes of the windows

with the appropriate computer key until the phenomena in question are ac-

cessible, a point which will presumably vary depending upon an individuals

visual acuity. Information on the paintings which have been addrressed in the

text have been included in the index at the conclusion of the document.


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PROLOGUE


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The painter, Paul Cezanne, was interested in, even fascinated with, a novella

composed by the renowned French writer, Honore de Balzac, a composition

called The Unknown Masterpiece, and it was an enthusiasm which he

acknowledged when he confided in a youthful journal that his favorite literary

character was Frenhofer, the protagonist of the narrative.

In his later years, the intensely private artist developed acquaintances with a

pair of youthful characters, a poet and a painter, and the latter individual, in a

book of reminiscences, provided the sole morsel of biographic information

which the student of Cezannes art will require, a morsel with which we will

concern ourselves in commencing this introductory discourse.

The acquaintance revealed that, on one occasion, he spoke to Cezanne about

The Unknown Masterpiece and about the protagonist of the novella that the

artist raised himself from the table, and repeatedly pointing to himself, indicat-ed that he was Frenhofer, a confession which was sufficiently upsetting that

tears filled his eyes and the acquaintance concluded his description of the

incident by remarking that some prophetic soul from the past had divined the

artist, a choice of words which is sufficiently intriguing that the allusion to

prophecy may well have been provided by Cezanne himself.

And so, if Cezanne was indeed Frenhofer, and if the acknowledgment of thatidentity was sufficiently emotional to have brought tears to his eyes, who was

this Frenhofer? and what was the character of the prophecy which had pre-

ceded the artist on the world stage? and was it possible that the stoic and

stolid painter with whom we are familiar was possessed of a sensibility, even

humanity, which was not apparent to us on initial exposure?


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A copy of The Unknown Masterpiece accompanies this document, and thereader is encouraged to peruse that composition and to endeavor to envision

the portrait of Catherine Lescault upon which Frenhofer had worked for ten

years, a representation which, as it turns out, was inaccessible to a pair of fellow

painters when they prevailed upon their associate and were permitted to view

the mysterious work.

As Frenhofer, facing the canvas, described the enchanting creature whom he

had painted, one of the visitors turned to the other and inquired, Do you see

anything?

No,his companion responded, do you?

I see nothing.

In fact, the canvas seemed to them to be a confused mass of color and a mu l-

titude of fantastical lines devoid of the figure of the enchanting female

who was the alleged subject of the painting and the visitors endeavored to

appreciate the character of the artists perception as they examined the inscru-

table portrait and pondered its likely significance.

There, one of the guests remarked perspicaciously, pointing to the canvas,

there is the utmost limit of our art on earth.


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As it turns out, Cezanne was possessed of a perception similar to that of his fic-

tional predecessor a correspondence which unquestionably occasioned hisemotional identification with the character and we will discover that, after a

century on display in public environments, his paintings remain, like their in-

scrutable precursor, unknown masterpieces.

Having been apprised of Cezannes enthusiasm for The Unknown Master-

piece, we will turn to and consider what might legitimately be conceived to be

a masterpiece from his own extensive oeuvre, a painting which, as a conse-

quence of the felicity of the conception which has been embedded in its fabric,

might even be characterized as his chef doeuvre.

The picture in question, the Five Card Players (Figure A), is part of the BarnesFoundation collection in Philadelphia, a sizable composition which is presumed

to have been executed in the early eighteen nineties and one which, if the quali-

ty of the painting did not warrant its inclusion in the discussion, the ambitious

scope of the canvas might legitimately be construed to merit such consideration.


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As we reflect upon the artists emotional identification with Frenhofer, we will

assume, for the sake of argument, that he was acknowledging the possession of

a similarly expansive perception and that, in exercising that perception, he hadcouched phenomena in his work indeed that the essence of his art was con-

tained in representations which were analogous to the figure of the elusive

female whom his fictional predecessor had depicted in his own chef doeuvre.

Some observers have speculated that the identification was borne of a shared

inability to realize in painting, but the emotion associated with the subject,

and the allusions to prophecy and divination, would presumably have been in-

consistent with such a tepid interpretation and in any event, we will shortly

discover that Cezanne was possessed of a similarly expansive perception and

that he was the creator of a similarly inscrutable art, effectively validating our

seminal working hypothesis.

As we turn to and examine the bipartite arrangement of color between the out-

side of the figure on the left and the inside of the figure on the right, we will

find that the color in that quarter can be construed to represent the darker onethird and lighter two thirds of a rectangular chromatic configuration in the

middle of the composition.

In fact, we will discover that the arrangement in question has been fashioned

into the figure of a sizable, heavy-jowled and laterally illuminated countenance,

the masculine analogue, as it were, to the comely Catherine Lescault in Frenho-

fers masterpiece, and a character to whom we will refer, as a means ofalliteratively acknowledging the correspondence, as Captain Lescault.


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The subdued color in the garments of the characters on the left side of the can-

vas would constitute the shaded portion of the image the lighter color in

and about the card player in the center of the composition would depict the

larger, and illuminated, segment of the representation and the countenanceof the character on the left and the visage of the individual in the center would

designate the conspicuous eyes of the adipose masculine simulacrum.

The triangle of lighter color between the seated card player in the center and the

background observer on the left would designate, moreover, the bridge and ab-

breviated figure of a nose the elbow beneath that image would describe a

protruding upper lip, and the lighter color in and about the underlying hands

would depict a complementary lower lip and finally, the highlights upon

the upper arm of the character on the left would define the contour along the

cheek of the heavy-jowled countenance.

There, one of the visitors remarked of the creation which they had been privi-

leged to encounter in The Unknown Masterpiece, is the utmost limit of our art

on earth an observation which might legitimately be applied to the figure

which we have identified in the painting of five card players at the BarnesFoundation in Philadelphia.

Alas, let us return to Cezannes youth and let us commence our survey of this

frenhoferian oeuvre with an inspection of several canvases from that formative

period in the painter's development


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PART ONE


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ONE

In one of his surviving correspondences, Cezanne observed that the end of all

art is the human face, and as we turn to and examine the work of his formative

years, we will appreciate the apposite character of that observation as it per-

tains to his own anthropomorphic, and ultimately faciocentric, painting.

The first of the canvases which we will consider is a paraphrase of a contempo-

rary's celebrated painting (Figure 1), one in which Cezanne has introduced an

image of his prematurely balding self, and a composition in which he has in-

dulged his artistic fancy at considerable length, occasionally as we will

discover in inspecting the representation in the upper right hand corner

with amusing, and ultimately disruptive, effect.

As we inspect the brushwork in that quarter, we will observe that the shadow

along the border of the drape and the outline along the sides of the proximate

foliage and vase have been arranged in parallel fashion, and we will remark, as


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we ponder the latter images, that the inflections of lighter pigment would ex-

tend the luminous color in the drape into the referenced representations,

effectively creating the lighter and darker halves of a composite chromatic ar-

rangement, of triangular configuration, in the corner of the composition.

In fact, the inflection of darker pigment above the top of the vase and the corre-

sponding punctuation of subdued color in the foliage on the left each of

those accents framed by the conspicuously lighter pigment above and beneath

them would describe a pair of eyes, the arm of the decorative figure on the

vase would represent the base of an associated nose, and the shadow between

that vessel and the underlying pedestal would constitute the crease in the lips

of a complementary mouth.

The lighter color on the left side of the arrangement would represent the high-

lighted portion of the countenance, the darker color on the right would describe

the shaded, and considerably more substantial, segment of the visage, and we

will discover that the upper right hand quadrant of the canvas has been fash-

ioned into the figure of a sizable masculine head, one which, like the image

which we encountered in the study of card players in the foreword, has beenlaterally illuminated.

As we proceed with our inspection of this exotic art, we will encounter numer-

ous such variably illuminated constructions in the fabric of Cezannes painting,

and although the present conception would appear to have been an impulsive

adaptation of the emerging representation, there will be occasions, as in the

aforeferenced study of card players, when those images will constitute the verycore of the painting exercise.


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In an effort to address one of the latter constructions, we will turn to and con-

sider a still life which the artist composed during his later twenties a canvas

which features a skull, a predictably exhausted candle, and a proximately situ-

ated tome (Figure 2) and as we incline our heads and ponder therepresentation along the axis of the diagonal from the lower left to the upper

right hand corner, we will encounter another of the laterally illuminated con-

ceptions in which we are interested.

Although the painting has been casually executed, there is a modest amount of

detail between the upper corner of the book and the image of the flower on the

left side of the composition, and we will want to focus upon and to contemplate

that quarter of the canvas with a good deal of care.

We will find, in fact, that the artist has described the figure of an inclined and

variably illuminated male head across the bottom half of the canvas, the high-

lighted portion of a hat visible in the image of the tome on the right and a pair

of prominent lips discernible in the auspiciously colored flower on the other

side of the composition.

When we turn to and examine the area between the remarked pair of images,

we will identify the intimation of a complementary set of eyes in the nasal aper-

ture on the skull and in the analogous inflection of darker pigment in the

shadow beside the book, and we should have little problem in apprehending


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the sizable inclined head which has been couched in the representation across

the base of the canvas.

The lower half of the countenance has been lighted by an implied source of il-

lumination beneath the figure, the skull would constitute the anomalously

highlighted cheek further up the picture plane, and we have, then, in essence, a

diagonally inclined and laterally illuminated male head in the youthful compo-

sition before us, a head which features, despite the sober subject, a curiously

pleasant mien.

As it turns out, the image in question might be construed to constitute a para-

digm for the constructions which the artist would embed in his still lifes during

the course of succeeding decades, canvases in which similarly inclined, compa-

rably illuminated, and analogously accoutered representations would

abound although, of course, tureens and compotiers would replace the

foreground tome in imparting the distinctive haberdashery.

It should be evident that the objects in the arrangement have been posi-

tioned and even, in the case of the floral representation, selected with

the intention of creating just such an anthropic image, and the painting, as

such, might be perceived to suggest the profound influence of these fanciful

indulgences and imaginative interpolations upon the disposition of the finished

canvases.

As we turn to and consider a third painting from this formative period a

composition which features one of the artist's friends dictating a correspond-

ence to an associate, and a picture which, like its predecessor, is part of a

private collection (Figure 3) we will encounter what will prove to be a sig-

nificantly less accessible construction, one which, as a consequence of its


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magnitude and abstraction, will warrant that we effect a radical diminution of

the reproduction.

At the outset, we will observe that, with the exception of the drape on the left

and the obscured compartment of wall on the upper right, the representation

has been constructed of a mosaic of lighter colors, an arrangement which, we

will find, as we proceed with our cursory inspection, has been fashioned into

the figure of a carnivalic male head.

The subdued color beneath the arm of the background character would desig-

nate a shaded eye socket the corresponding pigment between that sameindividuals knee and the sheet of paper on the desk would represent a second,

and similarly obscured, eye socket the suprajacent torso and head would

constitute the forehead in the center of the emerging countenance and the

gentlemans crossed leg would, within the context of the aforeferenced corre-

spondences, describe the figure of a prominent and moderately protuberant

nose.

Moving lower, we will discern the image of a mouth in the representation of the

foot and in the proximate shadow upon the floor we will encounter an ap-

propriately dimensioned, and dexterously modeled, chin in the infrajacent

configuration of lighter color in the corner and as we continue across the

canvas to the left, we will apprehend the contour along the figure of an associ-


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ated jaw in the shadow between the base of the canvas and the right foot of the

foreground character, the lighter color on the left side of that fissure depicting

what would appear to be the exposed collar of a garment.

As we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, we will discover that the

analogous chromatic arrangements in the foreground individuals coat and in

the background chest of drawers would frame the emerging countenance, and

in light of their relation to the aforeferenced features, those configurations

might be construed to represent a substantial mass of hair along the temple and

upon the top of the masculine head, a representation which has been interrupt-

ed, of course, by what would appear to be the illuminated flank of a headpiece

in the middle of the hirsute arrangement.

In fact, the construction may have been intended as a consequence of the

existence of the festively colored, and presumably artificial, hair to repre-

sent the figure of a clown, and if that is an accurate interpretation of the artists

intentions, we are left to ponder the relationship of the subject of the objective

exercise to the felicitously delineated image which we have identified.

The individual who is dictating the correspondence in the background is pre-

sumed to be Emile Zola, a friend from the artists youth and a character who

had already achieved significant renown as an author, and the carnivalic image

which has been superimposed upon his seated form may have been intended to

suggest that his corpus lacked the substance which his associate would have

hoped for it to have exhibited.

It should be evident, in any event, that Cezanne was in a position to employ the

fanciful dimension in his painting in a highly personal manner, and as we pro-

ceed with this cursory inspection of his oeuvre, we would do well to be


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apprised of the prospect for such editorial interjections, interpolations which, in

a canvas like the one under present consideration, might even feature a scath-

ing indictment of artistic, or literary, sophomorism.

Although the artist was reasonably circumspect in expressing his fancy in these

youthful canvases, he would soon be exposed to the influence of the emerging

Impressionism, and the new painting would affect significantly more than his

previously subdued palette in fact, these compositions would be perceived

to provide a framework for casual, and even protracted, exercises of fancy, and

that artistic evolution would, as it turns out, seriously compromise our efforts

to apprehend the phenomena in which we are interested.


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TWO

Having focused upon and pondered some of the frontal images which were

present in the painting of the artists twenties, we will proceed to his early thir-

ties, and we will consider a selection of the profiled representations which

abound in this anthropocentric and faciomorphic oeuvre.

The first of the pictures which we will address is a painting sketch presum-

ably of a Cezanne acquaintance and, in any event, from a private collection

(Figure 4) and inasmuch as the arms of the subjects in these paintings will

frequently play important roles in the articulation of the secondary phenomena

which we are investigating, we will look to and commence our discussion with

a consideration of the exposed limb along the left side of the seated figure.

In fact, as we follow the contour up the outside of the form, we will observe

that it has been extended in the inflection of darker pigment in front of the sub-

ject's head, and ultimately in the shadow along the flank of a background tree,

and when we ponder that multi-partite linear progression at some further


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length, we will recognize that the conjunction of its constituent parts was far

from coincidental.

We will find, in fact, that the arm has been appropriated and employed as what

would appear to be a modestly dimensioned nose that the underlying thigh

and calf would represent a complementary set of lips and that, within the

context of the referenced associations, the head would constitute a profiled eye

and the brim of the hat a conspicuous eyebrow.

As we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, we will discover that the

lighter color in the foliage above the subjects seated figure would designate an

extended forehead and that the inflections of darker pigment along the right

side of the representation would describe some shadows upon the temple and

beneath a scarf on the back of the head.

We have, then, what would appear to be the profiled representation of a female

head upon the right side of the painting, and we will find that, in what willprove to be a characteristic inversion of the figure-ground relationships, the

subdued color on the other side of the contour has been fashioned into the fig-

ure of a higher male profile, one in which the canvas would function as a

conspicuous and decidedly unseemly mouth.

In fact, if we were to continue with our inspection of the particulars, we would

find that the lighter color beneath the females head might be seen to constitutean approximation of the figure of an elevated arm apparently emanating

from the character, of similar chromatic constitution, upon the right side of the

canvas and if that is a viable reading of the artist's intentions, the composi-

tion might more accurately be christened The Embrace than the prosaic

Study of a Painter by which it has been known.


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As we proceed with our inspection of these paintings, we could, if we were soinclined, identify constructions which feature all manner of social interaction,

and although the subject is beyond the compass of the present introductory dis-

cussion, we would do well to be apprised of the prospect for such interactions

in our perusal of the canvases which we will be inspecting.

In a second painting from the artists middle thirties a representation of a

couple in a landscape setting, and a composition which is, once again, part of a

private collection (Figure 5) we will consider a related adaptation of the

human arm, and we will appreciate, as we pause and reflect upon the subject,

that the awkward impartations of the figures in these canvases have frequently

been occasioned by the fanciful activity which we are investigating.

As we examine the lighter color in the middle of the composition between

the irregular arrangement of darker inflections in the upper right hand corner

and the corresponding color in the representations of the gentlemans coat and

the figure of the adjacent chair on the opposite side of the canvas we will

observe that the contour along the left side of that configuration is unusuallydetailed and involved.


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We will discover, not surprisingly, after our experience in perusing the previ-

ous painting, that the contour in question has been fashioned into the profile of

another human countenance the arm describing the figure of a prominent

avian nose, the underlying hand representing a discreetly imparted and mod-erately downcast mouth, and the suprajacent arrangement of darker color along

the top of the background chair designating the shaded socket of an eye.

When we contemplate the construction in a sufficiently abstracted manner, we

will find that the dress would represent the figures of a highlighted cheek and

jaw, that the lighter color in and about the mans head would describe some

projecting tufts of hair above the forehead, and that the lighter color in the cen-

ter of the canvas has been fashioned into the image of a sizable hat of

indeterminate character.

As we proceed to a third painting from the artists middle thirties a still life

with a vase, a pitcher and a potted plant on a table (Figure 6) we will en-

counter another of the profiled countenances which are present in these

canvases, and we will consider the manner in which the lateral representations

in question will occasionally be transformed into broader frontal constructions.

We will observe, at the outset and by way of introduction, that there is a trian-

gular arrangement of subdued color in the lower right hand corner and a

complementary, and considerably more sizable, configuration of such color in


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the upper left hand corner, compartments which frame the focal collection of

lighter objects and artifacts in the middle of the composition.

In much the same manner as we focused upon and pondered the configuration

of lighter color in the previous canvas, we will want to examine the correspond-

ing chromatic arrangement in the center of the composition, and as we do

that attentive to the irregular contour along the top of the assembled arti-

facts upon the back of the table we will discover that the referenced

configuration has been fashioned into the figure of a conspicuous masculine

profile.

The parted lips will be discerned in the images of the pitcher and the largely

obscured cup on the left side of the canvas a modestly dimensioned nose

has been indicated in the oval along the top of the adjacent piece of pot-

tery and the shallow forehead will be distinguished in the figure of the

projecting leaf on the left side of the potted plant, the shaded eye socket having

been imparted, of course, by the parcel of background floor between the latter

pair of components.

The remainder of the foliage would constitute the highlighted portion of a

broad brimmed hat the hair along the flank of the head having been im-

parted, of course, by the figure of the underlying pot and the tablecloth

might be seen to describe the analogously illuminated collar of a garment of in-

determinate character, a representation which has been adapted and adorned,

in fact, with a successive expression of the artists mercurial fancy.

When we turn to and consider the suprajacent arrangement of darker color, we

will observe that the shadow upon the floor is about the same size as the pro-

filed countenance which we have identified, and when we ponder the


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representation in a sufficiently abstracted manner, we will discover that the

color in question would describe the shaded half of the foreground representa-

tion and that the punctuation of lighter pigment in that quarter would

designate a second, and perfunctorily imparted, eye.

The laterally illuminated construction is, of course, reminiscent of the similarly

constituted image which we encountered in the youthful still life in the previ-

ous chapter, and if we were to proceed with our inspection of the particulars,

we would observe that the canvas on the background floor projects conspicu-

ously from the foreground lips and may well, within the context of the

conception which we are investigating, represent the neck of a bottle from

which the reclining character is drinking.

As it turns out, there is a significant amount of documentary activity which is

associated with these fanciful constructions cigars and pipes, for instance,

and hands with food and drink, depicted in the vicinity of obligingly open

mouths and we should realize that, in endeavoring to appreciate this re-

condite art , we will be required to contend with the anecdotal, and occasionally

social, dimensions of the colorful representations which we are investigat-ing a dimension which is, of course, on conspicuous display in the

implement being introduced into the oral cavity in the painting under present

discussion.


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THREE

In the present chapter, we will proceed to the painting of the artists middle

thirties, and expanding upon the discussion of the subordinate construction

which we encountered in the previous composition, we will consider some fur-

ther examples of the radically inclined and laterally illuminated conceptionswhich abound in this intriguing oeuvre.

In the first of the pictures which we will examine a copy of a canvas which

was composed by one of the artistsassociates, and a painting which is in the

collection of the Kunsthalle Hamburg (Figure 7) we will encounter a con-

struction which has been imparted with admirable efficiency and felicity, and

one which illustrates the more sizable dimensions of the conceptions with

which we will increasingly be required to contend.

If, mindful of the precedent which was established in our inspection of the pre-

vious painting, we incline our heads to the right and consider the image of the

sky along the horizontal axis of the composition, we will find that the represen-


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tation has been fashioned into the figure of a large, laterally illuminated and

ponderously lipped male countenance, one which is reminiscent of the similarly

aligned and analogously constituted construction which we encountered, of

course, in the antecedent still life.

The punctuations of darker pigment above the middle ground barge would

designate a pair of eyes the inflection of lighter color on the immediate left

would represent the highlighted tip of a nose and the trough in the clouds,

above the edifice in the distance, would describe the orifice of a prominent, and

obviously open, mouth, the chin of the visage having been imparted, of course,

in the inclined configuration of lighter color along the left side of the motif.

In broader terms, the cloud bank above the horizon would represent the lower,

and illuminated, portion of the countenance the compartment of analogous

color along the top of the composition would designate an abbreviated parcel of

background above the fanciful construction and the configuration of darker

color between the referenced pair of chromatic arrangements would constitute

the upper, and shaded, half of the variably illuminated conception.

If we were to proceed with our inspection of the image, we would find that, in

typical fashion, it has been subjected to some successive fanciful metamorpho-

ses, but in keeping with the requirements of this introductory exposition, we

will content ourselves with the large and ponderously lipped countenance

which we have identified and with this limited discussion of the whimsical em-

bellishment of the motif.

The second of the canvases with which we will concern ourselves a still life

which features a vase, a cup and a modest collection of fruit on a tabletop, and


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a picture which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York

(Figure 8) is a representative painting from the period and one which, as we

will shortly ascertain, has been felicitously adapted and fancifully adorned by

the artist.

In keeping with our limited interest, we will want to consider the representa-

tion in and about the conspicuous disjunction in the color in the middle of the

composition, and in contrast with the approach which we effected in perusing

the antecedent picture, we will want to incline our heads and to ponder the re-

production along the horizontal axis from right to left.

As we do that, we will observe that the lozenges on the background wall are

positioned directly above the representation of the foreground cloth, and we

will discover that the color beneath the middle partitions is lighter than that in

the surrounding portions of the pattern, a set of coincidences which should, by

this point, alert us to the presumptive influence of the artists fancy in compos-

ing the painting.

In much the same manner as the compartments in the middle have been poisedagainst, and described in relation to, the circumscribing arrangements of inter-

mediate color, the cloth has been positioned over the infrajacent image of the

darker table, and when we consider the representation in an even moderately

abstracted manner, we will discover that the bipartite configuration of lighter


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pigment in the center of the composition has been fashioned into the figure of

another large, inclined and laterally illuminated male countenance.

In fact, the decorative cross above the figure of the focal cup would represent

one eye the complementary shadow along the side of the same utensil

would designate a second, and obviously more ambiguous, eye and when

considered within the context of the aforeferenced correspondences, the cup

itself would constitute the figure of a prominent, and appropriately highlighted,

nose.

Moving to the right, we will encounter the lips of a felicitously imparted mouth

in the darker piece of fruit next to the projecting handle of the utensil a rep-

resentation which, in contrast with the artist's prosaic impartations of objective

reality, may be one of the more poetic impartations of a mouth which is present

in his oeuvre and will identify the chin of the emerging male countenance

in the proximate arrangement of cloth on the right side of the composition.

As we contemplate the inclined construction, we will find that the fabric would

represent the highlighted portion of the carefully crafted visage that the in-

termediate color above the textile would constitute the shaded segment of the

image and that the vase on the left side of the canvas may even designate

some hair above the forehead or perhaps the highlighted portion of a cap.

The image has been imparted with an admirable discipline and restraint, andone cannot help but marvel at the poetry and charm even the elegance and

beauty which characterize the representation, qualities which we have en-

countered in several of the earlier constructions in this sequence but ones which

are conspicuously, and so very curiously, absent in the artists customary re-

constructions of objective reality.


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If we were to proceed with our inspection of the painting, we would find that

the image which we have identified is a diminution of a considerably larger im-aginative construction which has been embedded in the materials across the

upper half of the composition, one in which the triangle of darker pigment near

the top of the canvas and the similarly subdued color along the right side of the

vase would represent a pair of prominent eyes.

For the moment, however, we will content ourselves with the modestly dimen-

sioned countenance which we have identified in the middle of the composition,

and we will appreciate that that construction is another example of the horizon-

tally aligned and laterally illuminated conceptions which we have encountered,

of course, in each of the preceding couple of canvases.

In the third and final picture which we will consider in this chapter a repre-

sentation of a rural route, apparently in autumn, and a painting which is in the

collection of the Yale University Art Gallery (Figure 9) we will encounter

one of the many casual studies which the artist executed after he was exposedto the seminal Impressionism of the eighteen seventies, and we will address a

significantly more sizable construction that the ones with which we concerned

ourselves in inspecting the preceding canvases in this sequence.


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As we ponder the representation, we will find that there are some interesting

characteristics in the color in the terrestrial components across the bottom half

of the composition

In fact, the boulders on the left side of the route, the area in and about the struc-

ture in the distance, and the color around the gazebo on the right side of the

motif are appreciably brighter than the infrajacent striations of intermediate

pigment, and when we consider the representation in a sufficiently abstracted

manner, we will discover that the referenced chromatic arrangements combine

with the figure of the suprajacent sky to form a composite configuration of

lighter color across the upper three quarters of the canvas.

When we pause and inspect the contour along the base of the remarked ar-

rangement, we will find that the boulders would describe the figure of a

modestly dimensioned crescent on the left side of the route we will encoun-

ter a similar, and correspondingly dimensioned, configuration of lighter color

beneath the figure of the background structure in the distance and we will

identify a third, and significantly more sizable, such crescent along the right

side of the route, next to the projecting wall of the building in that quarter of thecanvas.

As we ponder the referenced arrangement of lighter color as it has been poised

against, and defined in relation to, the infrajacent striations of darker color in

the foreground, we will apprehend the figure, and identify the features, of a

sizable and diagonally inclined male countenance across the upper three quar-

ters of the composition ... a countenance which, in contrast with the subduedcharacter of the landscape, projects what would appear to be an incongruous

autumnal ebullience.


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The boulders on the left would constitute, of course, the abbreviated chin of the

referenced construction the crescent of lighter color, around and beneath

the structure in the distance, would represent a complementary upper

lip and the indentation in the contour between those focal arrangementswould designate the orifice of a casually imparted and loosely configured

mouth, one which might legitimately be characterized to be smiling, if not

broadly grinning.

The disjunction in the color above the shed on the right would define the con-

tour along the cheek in that quarter of the canvas, and the representation of the

sky above the roof of the foreground structure might be seen to adumbrate the

figure of a rudimentary and featureless hat on top of the sizable, and typically

inclined, head.

The roof of the middle ground gazebo and the anomalous arrangement of foli-

age further up the composition would represent a pair of conspicuous, and

appropriately inclined, eyes, and when we consider the landscape components

beneath the aforementioned oral orifice, we will discover, not surprisingly, that

some manner of implement is projecting from or being introduced into theopen cavity an affectation which would recall, of course, the similar embel-

lishment of the construction in the still life in the previous chapter and one

which is indicative of the artist's impulsive, and occasionally immoderate, sense

of humor.

The conception is not really laterally illuminated, but it is, of course, variously

conformed and constituted with a striation of intermediate color across thebase of the representation, with a configuration of lighter pigment in the image

of the sky in the middle of the construction, and with a circumscribing ar-

rangement of darker color in the figures of the darker clouds across the top of

the composition and it is, as such, representative of the chromatically so-


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phisticated phenomena which we have been encountering this intriguingly con-

figured art.

The representation is, of course, the most sizable one which we have considered

up to this point, and it might be perceived to adumbrate the magnitude of the

conceptions which we will be addressing in some of the subsequent canvases in

this progression, constructions which will assist us, in fact, in appreciating the

remarkable breadth of conception which characterizes the frenhoferian percep-

tion which we are investigating in this oeuvre.

In contrast with the character of the somnolent autumn landscape and with the

prosaic impartation of the objective particulars, the expression on the face is an-

imated and the disposition of the countenance buoyant, qualities which are, of

course, curiously inconsistent with the conception of the artist with which we

have encumbered ourselves during the course of the previous century a

conception of which we will continue to be disabused, of course, as we proceed

with our survey of this frequently exuberant painting.


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FOUR

We will, in the present chapter, examine several canvases from the artists later

thirties and early forties, and in an effort to explore some of the more diapha-

nous conceptions which have been delineated in the painting of the period, we

will be required to reduce the sizes of the reproductions and to ponder the rep-resentations at uncommonly modest dimensions, as little as three quarters of an

inch along the base of horizontal compositions.

In the first of the pictures a study of a mill in a country setting, and a canvas

which is the collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin (Figure 10) we will

consider a construction of smaller magnitude than the ones which we have oc-

cupied ourselves in the preceding pair of paintings, although the modest

dimensions of the conception notwithstanding, we will encounter significantly

more tension between the subjective and objective dimensions of the represen-

tation in the present instance.


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As we ponder the reproduction at significantly diminished size, we will ob-

serve that the painting is spare in its impartation of the objective particulars, but

we will discover that there is an area of moderately more detailed activity in the

upper left hand corner, and it is precisely to that quadrant of the canvas withwhich we will want to direct our attention in our cursory inspection of the

landscape.

In fact, as we incline our heads to the left and consider the color in that quarter

at some modest length, we will have little problem in apprehending the heavy

featured and immoderately smiling visage which has been couched in that por-

tion of the canvas, a construction which, as a consequence of its relatively

modest dimensions, should prove to be reasonably accessible.

The projecting roof of the structure in the middle distance would describe the

socket of one eye on the right side of the countenance, and the arrangement of

corresponding color on the background hill would designate the complemen-

tary socket on the other, and lower, side of the visage, the eyes themselves

having been imparted, of course, by the punctuations of darker pigment along

the bases of the referenced arrangements.

The highlighted faade between those images would represent the illuminated

flesh of a prominently projecting nose, and a conspicuous set of lips will be dis-

cerned in the analogous arrangement of lighter pigment around the lower of

the middle ground structures, the variegated color between the latter compo-

nents representing the figures of what would appear to be an ungainly

complement of teeth.

The proximate vegetation along the right side of the countenance would de-

scribe the shadow along the jaw on that side of the construction the


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corresponding color in the reflection upon the water would define the contour

along the cheek on the opposite side of the visage and the darker color in

the foliage along the border of the canvas would appear to designate some hair,

and perhaps the intimation of a hat, on the back of the inclined head.

The mottled arrangement of intermediate color above the image of the winding

stream, and between the aforeferenced pair of verticals, has been fashioned,

then, into a heavy featured male countenance, and when we pause and consider

the disposition of the representation across the lower half of the visage, we will

realize that the character is smiling arguably even gleefully grinning as

he displays an impressive complement of upper teeth.

The representation is but one of the many fanciful constructions which have

been embedded in the composition and displays, it should be remarked, the

buoyancy, even exuberance, which we will be encountering in the secondary

conceptions in many of the succeeding canvases in this sequence and alt-

hough we could spend some time addressing the associated anatomical

correspondences in the underlying landscape components, we need only dis-

cern in the image a transparent example of the fanciful phenomena with whichwe will be concerning ourselves in our perusal of this rarefied art .

As we turn to and consider a figure composition in the painting of this mid-life

period a study of several couples engaged in some animated, and apparent-

ly less than consensual, amorous activity (Figure 11) we will encounter a

construction of significantly more expansive dimensions, one which will re-

quire us, once again, to reduce the size of the reproduction in an effort toapprehend its discreetly imparted components and its diaphanously articulated

conformation.


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We will find, in fact, that there is a conspicuous arrangement of lighter color in

the representation of the background clouds, and we will discover that the

slope on the right side of the canvas has picked up and continued the remarked

arrangement, effectively creating an angled configuration of lighter color be-

tween the foliage in the upper right hand corner and the grass upon the

foreground bank.

When we examine the inflections of darker pigment along the base of that con-

figuration, we should have little problem in identifying the features of a

felicitously imparted male countenance in the lower right hand corner the

eye and eyebrow on the right side of the construction having been imparted, of

course, by the female and male characters along the crest of the background

slope, and the complementary components on the left side of the visage having

been described in the accents of darker color around the proximate pair of fore-ground couples.

The hair of the striding male in the center of the canvas would constitute the

eyebrow on the latter side of the moderately inclined construction the

darker color across the midsection of the proximate female character would de-

scribe the second eye of the countenance further down the picture

plane and the image of the canine in the corner would represent the shad-ow in the orifice of a pleasantly conformed, and obviously open, mouth, the

contour along the cheek having been imparted by the darker inflections beneath

the thigh of the seated female and along the leg of the background male in the

middle of the landscape setting.


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As we ponder the character of the moderately inclined construction, we will ob-

serve that the head has been covered with a casually conformed and modestlybrimmed hat, a conception which has been imparted in a dexterous representa-

tional shorthand which, as it turns out, we will explore in considerably greater

detail in the subsequent canvas in this progression.

Although the lips would appear to be parted, exposing the suggestion of a

tooth in the modest arrangement of lighter color between the canine and the ad-

jacent female, there is no evidence of the jovial expressions which we

encountered in the preceding pair of canvases, but we should appreciate that

there is, nevertheless, a levity of disposition in the representation which is alto-

gether lacking in the impartations of the subjects in the artist's ponderous

reconstructions of objective reality.

In the final painting which we will consider in this chapter a representation

of several bathers in an alpine setting, and a composition which is in the collec-

tion of the Musee dArt et dHistoire in Geneva (Figure 12) we will proceedfrom the precedents which have been established in the preceding canvases,

and we will ponder an example of the progressively more diaphanous con-

structions which are present in this rarefied art, an art which at this point might

legitimately be characterized as frenhoferian.


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We will find that there is, in the first place, a conspicuous disjunction in the col-

or along the contour of the background ridge, and inasmuch as we have

encountered some interesting adaptations of analogous chromatic disparities in

the earlier paintings in this sequence, we will incline our heads to the left andconsider the color in and about that quarter of the composition with a good deal

of care.

As we do so once again significantly reducing the dimensions of the repro-

duction with which we are working we will discover, in fact, that the

representation has been converted into the figure of another inclined and varia-

bly illuminated male countenance, and we will take a moment and consider the

features of that sizable, and unquestionably diaphanous, construction at some

further length.

The oval of lighter color upon the chest of the foreground bather would desig-

nate one eye the complementary lozenge along the base of the background

cloud would constitute a second eye and the contour of the slope, between

the referenced frontal character and his curiously posed companion on the right,

would describe the outline along the crest of a nose, the terminus of the nasalorgan having been delineated, of course, in the shadow along the lower back of

the latter individual.

The prominent line of darker pigment beneath the the figure of the character on

the right would represent the perfunctorily imparted mouth, and the images of

the proximate clouds would describe the upper, and highlighted, portion of the

inclined male countenance, the darker color of the ridge and the subdued colorof the grass around the figures of the foreground bathers constituting the shad-

ed half of the construction.


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As we ponder the image at some further length, we will find that the interme-

diate color from the figure of the background tree and the proximately

situated cloud to the border of the canvas on the left would articulate the

rippled brim and truncated crown of a sizable hat in the upper left hand corner,a headpiece which has, of course, dissolved into insignificance beneath the in-

tense light emanating from an implied source of illumination above the canvas.

If we are successful in apprehending the image with sufficient clarity, we will

appreciate the poetry inherent in the conception, the remarkable facility with

which it has been imparted, and what might legitimately be characterized as

the breathtaking beauty of the representation, described with a virtuosic econ-

omy and understatement.

If there was a graciousness in the conception which we encountered in the pre-

vious canvas, there is arguably an element of gravity and even perhaps majesty,

in the present construction, and it is ironic, indeed, that a representation of dis-

tinction should be encountered in such a casual and pedestrian work, an irony

which will, in fact, have profound implications for us as we endeavor to assess

the merits of the artists various paintings.

In fact, there are present, in many of the impetuously executed and only mod-

erately distinguished canvases in this oeuvre, representations of singular charm

and beauty, and although the phenomena in question will remain inaccessible

to the vast majority of viewers, some of the most stunning constructions will be

encountered in paintings, like the one under present discussion, of superficially

modest moment.


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Frenhofer, in commenting upon the enchanting creature in his masterpiece,

proffered some observations which, as we ponder the wistful representation

before us, we will consider by way of concluding the present discussion.

What toil some of those shadows have cost me. Look! there is a faint shadow

there upon the cheek beneath the eyes if you saw that on a human face, it

would seem that you could never render it with paint. Do you think that that

effort has not cost unheard of toil?

In fact, it is a privilege to merely contemplate the representation before us, one

which might legitimately be characterized as stunning, if not spectacular.


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FIVE

Although many of the canvases which we have considered up to this point

have been reasonably well composed and executed, the artist, after he was ex-

posed to and became acquainted with the seminal Impressionism in his early

thirties, adopted a considerably lighter palette and applied himself to creatingveracious representations of the phenomena of visual experience or at least

so it seemed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, he frequently executed his

paintings in a casual and impressionistic manner witness, for instance, the

concluding pictures in each of the previous two chapters and we will turn

to and consider a couple of those impetuously executed, and decidedly less

than distinguished, canvases in commencing the present chapter.

In the first picture, a study of the grounds at the family residence and a painting

which is in a private collection (Figure 13), we will observe that there is a febrile

quality in the brushwork, even in the impartation of the foreground grass, a

portion of the composition which is sufficiently pedestrian that we would not

have anticipated encountering such spirited execution in that quarter.


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As we proceed up the picture plane, we will remark that the brushwork be-

comes progressively more animated in and about the representations of the

foreground trees on the right side of the composition, and it is that portion of

the canvas which we will want to consider as we endeavor to analyze this mid-

life painting.

Interestingly, we will find that there is a conspicuous fissure in the color above

the terminus of the winding path a penumbra of lighter pigment which

proceeds from the base of the background edifice to the top of the foreground

tree and we will discover, not surprisingly, that the arrangement of darker

inflections on the right side of that fissure has been fashioned into the three

quarter profile of another sizable masculine head.

The mouth will be discerned in the horizontal line of darker pigment along the

base of the background edifice a prominent, and appropriately highlighted,

nose will be apprehended in the suprajacent inflections of foliage further up the

picture plane and the eyes and the illuminated eyelids will be distinguished

in the arrangement of lighter and darker colors along either side of the refer-

enced nasal organ.

The columnar arrangement of foliage further up the composition would de-

scribe the shadow in the middle of an associated forehead, and although the

chin has been omitted from the representation, the top and back of the head

would appear to have been indicated in the mosaic of lighter inflections be-


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tween and behind the punctuations of darker pigment upon the right side of

the canvas.

The image has been imparted, of course, in a casual and cursory manner, and it

would seem to represent, like the embellishment of the sky in an earlier city-

scape, an impulsive adaptation of the objective particulars, rather than a

calculated evocation of the frenhoferian constructions which we have been in-

vestigating in these canvases.

Although the representation is of only modest significance, we would do well

to appreciate the poetic character of the conception and to recognize the exist-

ence of the tranquil expression upon the countenance, a quiescence which will,

as it turns out, characterize the constructions which we will be addressing in

each of the succeeding canvases in this sequence.

The vegetation in these mid-life paintings would, as we can presently appreci-

ate, provide the artist an uncommonly accommodating environment in whichto exercise his dynamic fancy, and in an effort to examine another adaptation

and adornment of these foliar representations, we will turn to and consider a

study of bathers along the bank of a body of water (Figure 14).


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Inasmuch as the construction which we will be addressing will prove to be

among the more sizable conceptions which we will have considered up to this

point, we will want to significantly reduce the dimensions of the reproduction

and to ponder the disjunction in the color above the heads of the assembledbathers upon the foreground bank.

In several of the earlier canvases which we have considered, we have observed

that related disjunctions in the color were employed in fashioning laterally il-

luminated representations of the human face, and in the present composition,

we will consider the manner in which those disjunctions could be utilized in

creating conspicuously, and occasionally exotically, hatted representations of

the circumscribing heads.

When we effect a significant reduction in the size of the reproduction, we will

find that the color beneath the remarked diagonal across the lower half of the

painting is appreciably lighter than in the remainder of the composition, and

when we consider the representation at some further length, we will identify

the features, and apprehend the figure, of another masculine countenance

across the base of the canvas.

The heads of the bathers on the left side of the composition would designate, of

course, a pair of conspicuous eyes the inflection of darker pigment between

those images would describe the shadow along the flank of an associated, and

cursorily imparted, nose and the subdued color on the right side of the

standing foreground bather would, within the context of the referenced corre-

spondences, describe the modestly parted lips of a mouth.

The crescent of darker color behind that character a line which has been ex-

tended in the figure of the overhead branch would define the contour along


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the cheek upon the left side of the countenance the figures on the right

would constitute the highlighted flesh along the opposite side of the vis-

age and the construction has, of course, been truncated along its base by the

bottom edge of the canvas.

The arrangement of foliage further up the picture plane would represent what

would appear to be a sizable and featureless hat the outline of the brim vis-

ible in the diagonal of darker pigment above the figures of the infrajacent

bathers and although the canvas has been impetuously executed, we will

consider a second, and appreciably more polished, version of the composition

in the succeeding chapter, one in which the image of the hatted head will be

imparted in a decidedly more deliberate manner.

We will encounter similar adaptations of the disjunctions in the color fields in

many of these canvases, and in an effort to address an especially memorable

construction in the painting of these middle years one in which another

ponderously hatted head has been featured we will turn to and consider one

of the more impressive landscapes in Cezannes oeuvre(Figure 15).

If, mindful of the apparatus which was employed in the preceding composition,

we consider the canvas in a sufficiently abstracted manner, we will find that

there is a conspicuous disjunction in the color in the middle of the painting

along the axis of the descending diagonal from left to right and we will


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discover that the foreground foliage has been fashioned into an oval of inter-

mediate color beneath that prominent chromatic disjunction.

In fact, the colors on the background slope, and in the image of the middle

ground vale, are perceptibly lighter than those in the referenced configuration,

and when we focus upon and consider the latter arrangement at some further

length, we will apprehend the form, and identify the features, of another sizable

male countenance across the surface of the objective particulars.

The emerald color in the foreground would describe the fragmentary figure of a

chin the darker pigment immediately above that arrangement would repre-

sent an adroitly imparted, and even dentally adorned, mouth and the

proximate configuration of lighter color in the image of the receding route

would constitute the highlighted tip of a nose.

The punctuations of darker pigment above, and along either side of, the latter

representation would describe a pair of inclined eyes, and the contours of thecheeks will be discerned in the disjunctions in the color between the fore and

middle ground components along either side of the composition.

In a manner reminiscent of the affectation which had been utilized in the previ-

ous canvas, the lighter color in the middle distance vale and along the slope of

the background ridge has been appropriated and employed as a moderately

angled hat, a headpiece whose undulating brim will be discerned in the modu-lated chromatic inflections across the lower half of the construction.


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The pronounced punctuations of darker pigment in the canvas in the mod-

est arrangement behind the image of the horizontal route on the right and in the

more substantial configuration at the base of the slope on the left would

appear to represent some shadows beneath the undulating brim and, in anyevent, would frame the countenance along either side of the construction.

Once again, it is impossible to ignore the poetry which is present in the charm-

ingly angled representation, an image which has been imparted with a

sensitivity and a facility which are, of course, conspicuously absent in the art-

ists reconstructions of the phenomena of objective experience and it is

arguably worth noting and appreciating the impetus toward, and aspiration for,

beauty and grace which is apparent in the felicitous impartation of the concep-

tion.

As we ponder the striking representation, it is apparent that, in an almost mi-

chelangelesque manner, this is the idea of man writ large upon the cosmos, and

one cannot but recall, in that connection, the comment which the artist made to

a youthful acquaintance during the course of a conversation toward the end of

his life.

There are some days, he confided, when it seems to me that the universe is

noting but a continuous stream, a river of aerial reflections around the idea of

man an experience which may well have achieved its ultimate expression

in the image of the charming creature which has been articulated in the canvas

before us.

Although the representation is anthropomorphic, the conception might easily

be conceived of as deistic or, at the very least, pantheistic, and, in any event,

perhaps we could be excused if we presumed that we are treading on sacred


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ground as we ponder the graciously framed and handsomely accoutered con-

struction before us.


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SIX

Having arrived at the concluding chapter in the initial portion of this document,

we will proceed to the painting of the artists middle forties and consider a se-

ries of constructions which, in addition to being variably illuminated, are

sufficiently sizable that they might be perceived to adumbrate the fullness ofthe frenhoferian perception which we are investigating.

In the first canvas a study of a recumbent nude and a picture which is in the

collection of the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal (Figure 16) we will

encounter another of the variably illuminated constructions which are present

in the artists painting, a conception which has been dissected along its axis into

lighter and darker halves of the obviously fragmentary visage.

As we ponder the representation in a purposefully abstracted manner, we will

observe that the outline along the right side of the subjects torso has been

picked up and continued in the shadow beneath the underlying thigh, creating


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a crescent which has been redirected up the picture plane via the conspicuous

line of darker pigment above the knees.

As we inspect the area which has been circumscribed by that line in the middle

of the canvas, we will discover that there are a number of conspicuous accents

of darker color in that quarter, and as we proceed with our inspection of the

particulars, we should have little problem in apprehending the features of the

laterally illuminated, and inchoate, male countenance which has been described

around the figure of the female nude.

The parcel of darker color above the subjects right shoulder would represent

the shaded socket of one eye the significantly larger configuration of sub-

dued color above the proximate elbow would designate the similarly obscured

socket of a second eye and the shadow beneath the oval of the infrajacent

breast would articulate the contour beneath the figure of a complementary nose.

The crease in the flesh between the abdomen and the thigh would designate aprominent mouth, and the leg on the right side of the recumbent figure would

represent an abbreviated chin along the base of the subordinate construction.

In broader terms, the females head and torso would constitute the illuminated

flesh on the right side of the countenance the darker color around the figure

of the elevated arm would designate the modestly dimensioned left side of the

visage and although, as has been intimated, the conception is unfinished,the dark color across the top of the canvas may represent some hair or a portion

of a rudimentary hat on top of the head.


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As with some of the earlier constructions in this sequence, the representation

has been imparted in the very most casual and cursory manner, and in light of

that fact, we would do well to refrain from overstating its significance, merely

appreciating it as some further evidence of the fanciful activity which we areinvestigating in the painting of the artists forties.

It remains to be seen whether these unfinished canvases were abandoned be-

cause of the significant challenges and the presumptive frustrations

which Cezanne encountered in attempting to integrate the subjective and ob-

jective dimensions of these paintings, and in any event, the picture before us

might be seen to illustrate the fascinating dynamic of creation which is present

in this multi-faceted art.

The second painting which we will consider in this chapter a study of a

maritime vista and another canvas which is in the collection of the Metropolitan

Museum in New York (Figure 17) is representative of the progressively

more accomplished work which the artist produced during his middle forties,

but we will discover that, the increasing mastery of his craft notwithstanding,Cezannes enthusiasm, indeed the centerof his art, resided elsewhere in these

intriguingly constituted canvases.

If we were interested in considering some of the smaller fanciful constructions

which are present in these paintings, we would encounter the figure of a dex-


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terously imparted hat across the representation of the background bay we

would identify a conspicuous set of eyes, an amusingly inverted nose, and a

pleasantly configured mouth, adorned with a couple of ungainly teeth, beneath

that headpiece along the border of the canvas on the right and we woulddiscover that the body of water has been embellished with another of the ubiq-

uitous expressions of whimsy which abound in this fanciful oeuvre.

(Unfortunately, the digital reproduction which accompanies this document is

not of premium quality the reader who would care to examine the refer-

enced image should secure a large format print or, better still, repair to the

museum and inspect the picture in person.)

We are, however, interested in the broader dimensions of fanciful and imagina-

tive activity which are present in these paintings, and in an effort to address the

uncommonly accessible such construction which has been embedded in the

landscape before us, we will want to consider the area in and about the disjunc-

tion in the color along the contour of the ascending shoreline.

As we do that, we will observe that the ocher in the lower left hand corner is

lighter than the surrounding colors across the base of the composition, and we

will discover, when we turn to and consider the circumscribing landscape com-

ponents, that the contiguous arrangement of foliage would merge with the

representation of the sea and form a composite configuration of darker color in

the middle of the canvas.

As soon as we perceive the foliage to be an extension of the aquatic representa-

tion, we will become apprised of the presence of another variably illuminated

male countenance in the middle of the composition, one which features an at-


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tenuated striation of shaded flesh along the contour of the cheek upon the left

side of the inclined construction.

One eye will be discerned in the inflection of darker color below the projection

of land in the middle distance a second eye will be identified in the corre-

sponding punctuation of darker pigment beneath the image of the background

ridge and the contour of the cheek along the left side of the countenance

will be distinguished in the irregular outline about the foliage across the base of

the composition.

When the emerging construction is discerned with sufficient clarity, the ar-

rangement of vegetation in the lower right hand corner will be seen to continue

the outline of the cheek and will be found to describe the figure of a broadly

smiling, and even dentally adorned, mouth a representation which evinces

a buoyancy, even exuberance, of spirit which may well leave the seasoned ob-

server of this art in something approaching astonishment.

The lighter color of the residences in the corner and the darker roofs on ei-

ther side of the oral cavity would represent the truncated chin of the

countenance along the base of the canvas, and as a consequence of its proximity

to the underlying visage, the background ridge may have been intended to des-

ignate a low lying hat, or beret, on top of the inclined head.

The construction is, of course, a sophisticated variation of the laterally illumi-nated conceptions which we have encountered in several of the earlier canvases

in this sequence, it has been imparted in an admirably disciplined and circum-

spect manner, and we are left to ponder the curious intersection of subjective

and objective phenomena in these paintings, a subject which is, of course, well

beyond the compass of this introductory exposition.


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In the third and final canvas in this chapter a bathing composition which isin the collection of the Musee du Petit Palais in Paris and a picture which was

owned for a significant duration by Henri Matisse (Figure 18) we will con-

sider another of the variably illuminated constructions which are present in the

painting of the period, one which, unlike its immediate predecessor, has been

aligned with, and described along, the vertical axis of the canvas.

We encountered the same three figures, of course, in proportionately smaller

dimensions, in the bathing composition which we examined in the previous

chapter, and we will find, as we proceed with our inspection of the painting,that the artist has effected a similar metamorphosis of their forms in this subse-

quent and considerably more substantive canvas.

We will observe, in fact, that the lighter color on the foreground bank, in the

contiguous reflection upon the water, and in the suprajacent foliage in the cen-

ter of the composition would complement the luminous flesh of the figures, and

when considered against the backdrop of the darker pigment in the upperright hand corner would constitute a composite arrangement of lighter col-

or across the bottom two thirds of the canvas.


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As we contemplate the referenced arrangement, we will find that there are

some conspicuous accents of darker pigment in that quarter of the representa-

tion, and as we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, we will discover

that those accents would describe the features of a sizable, moderately inclinedand pleasantly smiling male countenance across the base of the composition.

The towel and the bather on the left would represent the highlights upon a dis-

tended cheek the hair of the same figure would constitute the recessed

socket of an eye on that side of the construction and the corresponding col-

or around the head of the bather in the center would designate a second, and

complementary, such socket, the eye itself having been imparted by the lighter

color in the image of the figuresdiminutive face.

The crescent of darker pigment beneath the arm of the former character would

articulate the contour around the base of a nose the shadow upon the

ground, and the contiguous arrangement of darker color along the top of the

foreground bank, would constitute the right, and more conspicuous, half of the

immoderately smiling mouth and the other side of the latter representation

will be discerned, of course, in the subdued pigment between the legs of thestanding bather on the left.

As we proceed with our inspection of the subordinate construction, we will find

that the figures in the middle and on the right side of the motif would describe

the highlights upon the cheek in that portion of the image, and we will discover

that the chin and the jaw along the base of the representation have been trun-

cated by the border of the canvas along the bottom of the composition.

When the painting is considered in a sufficiently abstracted manner, the darker

color in the foliage in the upper right hand corner will be found to describe the


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crown of a casually conformed hat, a headpiece which, in the contiguous reflec-

tion upon the water, extends below the ear on that side of the representation.

With the exception of the lighter color on the left and the partition of sky across

the top of the painting, the entire composition has been fashioned into the fig-

ure of a modestly inclined, variably illuminated, and prosaically hatted male

head, an image which is, of course, analogous to the similarly accoutered con-

struction which we encountered in the precursor study of the subject in the

previous chapter.

Once again, the intriguing dimension of the representation is the agreeable,

even affable, character of the artistic persona which it projects, a persona which

is, of course, the antithesis of the conception of the painter with which we have

unwittingly consented to encumber ourselves for the previous century-plus.

In fact, life appears to have been good in Provence in the eighteen eighties ...


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PART TWO


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SEVEN

As we proceed to the work of the artists maturity and consider a representative

selection of pictures from that period from eighteen eighty-six to nineteen

six we will discern a progressive refinement in, and mastery of, the crafts-

manship in Cezannes painting, and we will, in investigating the fancifulphenomena in those canvases, concern ourselves with constructions of progres-

sively greater magnitude and abstraction.

In the first of the paintings a study of a hillside village and a canvas which

is in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum of Art (Figure 19) we will en-

counter a picture which is supposed to have been one of those which, a couple

of decades later, provided the inspiration for Cubism, and if the character of the

painting had been more fully appreciated, one wonders if it might not addi-

tionally have provided the stimulus for the development of what might

tentatively be characterized as the ultimate in surrealistic art.


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In any event, as we turn to and effect a cursory inspection of the canvas, we will

find that there are several conspicuous arrangements of color across the lower

half of the painting, and inasmuch as that is the portion of the composition

which will be of interest to us, we will take a moment and identify those con-figurations before proceeding with our discussion of the intriguing, if

rudimentary, construction which has been embedded in the landscape.

There is, in fact, a cluster of red roofs and some interspersed parcels of darker

foliage on the left side of the canvas there is an elliptical configuration of

lighter vegetation on the right side of that striation in the center of the composi-

tion and, finally, and most conspicuously, there is a sizable crescent of

unpainted canvas in the lower right hand corner.

When we turn to and examine the lighter foliage in the middle of the motif, we

will observe that there are some interesting features in and about the center of

that configuration, and as we proceed with our inspection of the detailed

brushwork in that quarter, we will identify the features of an unmistakable, if

casually imparted, countenance in that portion of the composition.

In fact, recalling the conceptual apparatus which the artist had employed in an

earlier landscape, we will find that the anomalous parcel of unpainted canvas in

the middle of the arrangement would represent the highlighted flank of a nose,

and as we turn to and consider the suprajacent brushwork, we will identify the

images of a pair of conspicuous eyes in the inflections of darker pigment along

either side of the bridge.

Moving down the picture plane, we will encounter what would appear to be

the corner of an associated mouth in the lines of darker pigment above the im-

age of the foreground facade, we will distinguish the outlines of the


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circumscribing cheeks in the prominent disjunctions in the color along either

side of the emerging countenance, and we will observe that the latter lines con-

verge near the bottom of the painting and articulate the contour along the base

of a heavy jowled jaw and chin.

Although there may be the suggestion of a portion of an associated torso in the

configuration of darker vegetation along the left side of the representation, we

need only concern ourselves with the figure of the diaphanous countenance

which we have identified in the middle of the canvas and appreciate it as per-

haps a preparatory sketch for the sizable construction which was to have been

developed in that quarter.

The cluster of structures above the focal visage might be seen, moreover, to rep-

resent a casually conformed and similarly rudimentary hat with the

suggestion of an undulating brim in the fan-like arrangement of lighter color

beneath the hilltop edifice, a brim which has cast, in fact, an unmistakable

shadow across the upper third of the underlying countenance and in any

event, the fanciful conception which we have identified, like the painting in

which it is ensconced, has been described in the very most casual and cursorymanner, and we would do well, as a consequence, to refrain from overstating

its significance.

Although the representation is unfinished, we can appreciate the presence of

the genial expression upon the countenance and the charm inherent in the head

being adorned with the festive piece of haberdashery, and, typically, the inten-

tion would appear to have been to celebrate the common and the quotidian in acanvas which was, of course, anything but the artist displaying, in the pro-

cess, a blitheness of spirit which the student of the oeuvre will presumably find

to be intriguing, if not perplexing and ultimately even astonishing.


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As with the image of the recumbent nude in the previous chapter, the represen-

tation has been imparted in the very most casual and cursory manner, and in

light of that fact, we would do well to refrain from overstating its significance,merely appreciating it as some further evidence of the fanciful activity which

we are investigating in the painting of the artists maturity.

In the second canvas which we will consider in this chapter a representa-

tion of female bathers in a curiously compressed picture space and a

composition which is in the collection of the Kunstmueum Basel (Figure 20)

we will encounter one of the more familiar paintings in the work of the artists

forties, and we will, as it turns out, address a significantly more substantive, if

potentially more elusive, fanciful construction in the middle of that iconic com-

position.

As we inspect the reproduction in a purposefully abstracted manner, we will

find that there are some intriguing inflections of darker pigment in and about

the center of the representation, and we will take a moment and identify those

punctuations before proceeding with our discussion of the mid-life painting.

The most pronounced such inflection will be discerned along the back of the

standing figure upon the left side of the canvas, with a linear progression com-

mencing behind the hips, proceeding along the back, and subsequently moving


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across the composition before returning down the picture plane, creating a tri-

angular configuration of darker pigment behind the females profiled head in

the process.

As we focus upon the remarked arrangement, sensitive to the similar punctua-

tions of subdued color in the proximity, we will find that as a consequence

of the mechanism of perceptual closure the line in question has been picked

up and continued in the representations of the ha

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