Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit

c. 1900

Paul Cezanne

Artist, French, 1839 - 1906

We look down onto nine pieces of fruit, a pitcher, a goblet, and a dish arranged on a rustic wood table in front of a floral curtain in this nearly square, loosely painted still life. The table extends off the left edge of the composition and the back, right corner of the table just touches the right edge of the canvas. At the center of the composition, five pieces of marigold-orange fruit with yellow highlights and scarlet-red shading are piled in the dish. The side of the dish to our right is slightly tipped up so the fruit settles near the rim to our left. The dish is painted with loose strokes of sky blue, shell pink, pale yellow, and parchment white. Three more pieces of fruit, including a lemon, sit to our left of the dish and one more piece of fruit sits near the back corner of the table, behind the dish, to our right. Immediately behind the dish is a stemmed glass with a tall, rounded bowl. To our left, between the fruit on the table and in the platter, is a tall, angular, tapering pitcher. The pitcher is painted with emerald and moss-green leaves against a background painted with strokes of light peach, blush pink, slate blue, and one wide stroke of amber orange. The wooden table is peanut brown streaked with strokes of apricot orange and pale sage green. One drawer at the front has a round, wooden pull. There seem to be at least two panels of curtains hanging behind the table. Down the center of the background is a panel of coral peach and saffron orange with a floral pattern painted in wheat brown and denim blue. To our right, the panel is streaked with vertical strokes of teal, midnight, and navy blue. The area to our left, behind the table, could be the panel of a door, painted with pale turquoise. The fruit, dish, vessels, table, curtain, and door are all outlined with cobalt blue.

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On View

East Building Mezzanine, Gallery 217-B

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

Video:  Cézanne’s Still Lifes at His Studio

A visit to Paul Cézanne's studio and a look at some of his works.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Prince Antoine Bibesco [1878-1951], Paris, London, Leningrad, and Strehaia, Romania. Claude Monet [1840-1926], Giverny. Paul Guillaume [1891-1934], Paris; sold May 1930 to Marie N. Harriman [1903-1970] and W. Averell Harriman [1891-1986], New York [Marie Harriman Gallery];[1] W. Averell Harriman Foundation, New York; gift 1972 to NGA.
[1] According to Harriman collection records in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1930

  • Opening Exhibition, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1930, no. 1

1931

  • Exhibition of Modern French Painting, The Detroit Institute of Arts, 1931, no. 14.

  • Still Life, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1931, no. 16

1937

  • Paul Cézanne: Exhibition of Paintings, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints, San Francisco Museum of Art, 1937, no. 33, repro.

1938

  • The Painters of Still Life, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 1938, no. 51, as The Table.

1939

  • Cezanne Centennial Exhibition, Marie Harriman Gallery, New York, 1939, probbly no. 17

1961

  • Exhibition of the Marie and Averell Harriman Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1961, unnumbered catalogue, repro. 13

1974

  • Exposition Cézanne, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; Municipal Museum, Kyoto; Cultural Center, Fukouka, 1974, no. 52

1977

  • Cézanne: The Late Work, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Grand Palais, Paris, 1977, no. 79

1983

  • Selected French Paintings, Timken Art Gallery, San Diego, 1983

1986

  • Capolavori Impressionisti dei Musei Americani, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples; Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 1986-1987, no. 8, repro.

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, State Hermitage Museum, Leningrad; State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 1986, no. 35, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 63, repro.

1992

  • From El Greco to Cézanne: Masterpieces of European Painting from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and The Metroplitan Museum of Art, New York, National Gallery of Greece, Athens, 1992-1993, no. 64, repro.

1997

  • Cèzanne i blickpunkten, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 1997-1998, no. 24, repro.

1998

  • Classic Cézanne, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1998-1999, no. 10, repro.

2002

  • Ciarán Lennon: Hapax, An acrylic painting in four parts 2001, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 2002, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2004

  • Cézanne: Aufbruch in die Moderne [Cézanne: The Dawn of Modern Art], Museum Folkwang, Essen, 2004-2005, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2008

  • Cézanne & Giacometti: Paths of Doubt, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, 2008, no. 52, repro.

2012

  • Cézanne. Paris-Provence, The National Art Center, Tokyo, 2012, no. 85, repro.

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 51.

2017

  • Monet the Collector, Musée Marmottan-Claude Monet, Paris, 2017-2018, no. 61, repro.

Bibliography

1936

  • Venturi, Lionello. Cezanne, son art, son oeuvre. 2 vols. Paris, 1936.

1970

  • Orienti 1970, no.809.

1972

  • "Recent Acquisitions of American and Canadian Museums." Art Quarterly 35 (Autumn 1972): 332, repro.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 64, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 499, no. 742, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 84, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum. Exh. cat. Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990: no. 63, repro.

1991

  • Coman, Florence E. Joie de Vivre: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1991: no. 12, repro.

1992

  • Naubert-Riser, Constance. Cézanne. London, 1992, 120, repro.

1996

  • Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: a catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New York, 1996:no. 849, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20190770

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