Provenance

Marie Harriman Gallery

Marie Harriman Gallery

American, extant 1930 - 1942

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See all 14 works of art
A few pale brown buildings with terracotta red roofs are nestled among hills at the base of a towering, icy-blue mountain in this horizontal landscape painting. Only the pale indigo-violet shadows of the mountain are laid in, leaving the rest as the white of the canvas. The buildings and muted brown hills, blue shadows, and touches of sage green below are loosely painted with visible brushstrokes throughout around more blank areas of canvas.
Paul Cezanne, Montagne Sainte-Victoire, from near Gardanne, c. 1887, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.4

Montagne Sainte-Victoire, from near Gardanne

Paul Cezanne · c. 1887 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.4

A nude woman with brown skin and long black hair stands to our right against a landscape swirling with jewel-toned greens, pinks, and purples while a man, also with brown skin, sits under a tree behind her in this stylized vertical painting. The woman's body is angled to our right, and she cuts her black eyes back to look off to our left. She touches her chin with the fingertips of her right hand, closer to us, while her left hand holds a white cloth over her groin. The ground beneath her is swirled with bright pink, lilac purple, and some strokes of canary yellow. To our left and behind the woman, the man wears a topaz-blue robe, and he kneels with his hands on his knees. A band of vivid orange and kelly green in front of his knees could be abstracted flowers. His oval face is rimmed with a band of black. He has a wide nose, and his pink lips are parted to reveal his teeth. His eyes are wide open as he looks down under black brows. A craggy, dark teal-blue tree trunk curves up and across the background, and a red and green faced serpent floats near the upper right corner. The artist signed, dated, and inscribed the title in the lower left corner, "P Gauguin 92 Parau na te Varua ino."
Paul Gauguin, Parau na te Varua ino (Words of the Devil), 1892, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.12

Parau na te Varua ino (Words of the Devil)

Paul Gauguin · 1892 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.12

Shown from the thighs up, a woman faces our left in profile as she lifts up one hand and holds a closed fan in the other in this vertical painting. The woman has pale, peachy skin, and her dark hair is tied with a pink bow at the back of her crown. She looks to our left with heavy-lidded eyes. She has a delicately pointed nose, and her lips are closed. Her electric-blue, long-sleeved shirt is tight fitting and has a scooped neck. A blue cloth ties around her waist and falls over a brown skirt. One knee juts forward. Her right hand, farther from us, is held face-high with the palm facing away. The fan is held out in the other hand in front of the woman’s waist. The background is streaked with smoky blue and gray. The artist signed and dated the lower right corner, “Picasso 1905.”
Pablo Picasso, Lady with a Fan, 1905, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.19

Lady with a Fan

Pablo Picasso · 1905 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.19

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.
Paul Cezanne, Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit, c. 1900, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.5

Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit

Paul Cezanne · c. 1900 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.5

Three apples and two pears sit next to a knife and a luminous, white mug on a tan, stone surface before a muted, olive-green background in this horizontal still life painting. The objects and background are painted with blended strokes, giving the painting a soft, glowing appearance. At the center of the ledge or table, the apples are dappled with candy red and pale yellow. Two golden and moss-green pears are to our left, one upright and the other lying with its stem coming toward us. The fruit is painted with white highlights from a light source to our left. The cream-white mug sits next to the apples to our right. The mug has straight sides, a low band near the top and bottom, and the handle curves out to our right. Between the apples and mug, the black handle of a knife angles to our right, off the edge of the table. Shadows are painted in brick red on the surface of the table, which extends off both sides of the canvas. There is a vertical seam in the table under the upright pear.
Jean Siméon Chardin, Still Life with a White Mug, c. 1764, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.6

Still Life with a White Mug

Jean Siméon Chardin · c. 1764 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.6

We look across a body of water at two houses, some smaller outbuildings, and a houseboat along the far bank in this abstracted, horizontal landscape painting. Painted with thin, loose strokes of moss and pine green, pale topaz and denim blue, and black, many of the details are indistinct. The cream-white houses have dark roofs and are nearly engulfed by tall, lush trees that reach nearly to the top of the canvas. Fog-gray clouds float against a watery blue sky above. The green of the trees is reflected in the water below, where some of the canvas remains unpainted, especially in the lower left corner. A crimson-red blotch appears over the houses.
Paul Cezanne, At the Water's Edge, c. 1890, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.1

At the Water's Edge

Paul Cezanne · c. 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.1

This drawing shows a woman seen from the back, standing with her head bent forward. She appears to be lifting a white skirt or dress over her head, and her shoulders and neck are covered by white fabric. She is otherwise nude. Her head is entirely obscured except for a sliver of dark hair, and she has pale skin. She stands on a pile of blue and white fabric. The background features green foliage, including grass and a brown tree trunk in the top right corner. The visible lines of the drawing provide some texture.
Edgar Degas, Young Woman Dressing Herself, 1885, pastel over charcoal on tan wove(?) paper mounted on board, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.9

Young Woman Dressing Herself

Edgar Degas · 1885 · pastel over charcoal on tan wove(?) paper mounted on board ·  Accession ID  1972.9.9

Four boats with low masts sit on a sandy beach next to rocky cliffs under a cloud-filled sky in this horizontal landscape painting. Three of the boats are clustered together near the center of the composition. The fourth is a short distance away to our left. The beach is painted with visible dabs and strokes of tan and cream white with gray shadows. The vertical cliffs are not much taller than the boats' masts and are painted in with smears and smudges of warm brown and black. The beach is dark with shoals where it meets the water beyond the boats. Two sailboats with white sails are on the water in the distance. Bands of parchment white, gray, and smoky lavender purple gather in the icy blue sky above the horizon, which comes about a quarter of the way up the composition. The artist signed the work in rust-red letters in the lower right corner, “G. Courbet.”
Gustave Courbet, Boats on a Beach, Etretat, c. 1872/1875, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.7

Boats on a Beach, Etretat

Gustave Courbet · c. 1872/1875 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.7

We look out onto a landscape with tawny-brown haystacks and trees among a patchwork of moss, lime, mint, and pine-green fields in this stylized, horizontal painting. The scene is painted with mostly flat areas of color. Closest to us, along the bottom edge of the canvas, a woman wearing a white cap and dress and a navy-blue jacket stands among three black and white spotted cows, which form a line facing our left in profile. Several round, tangerine-orange forms surround the head of the cow near the lower right corner. The strip of land on the other side of the cows is divided into alternating rows of spring green and coral pink to our left, and forest green dotted with white to our right. The landscape stretches to the horizon, which comes two-thirds of the way up the composition. Rectangular parcels of land are dotted with four rust-brown haystacks beyond the cows, and trees cluster around several brown roofs in the distance to our right. A band of cream-white clouds lines the horizon beneath the topaz-blue sky above. The artist signed and dated the work in dark paint against the white of the cow in the lower right corner: “P. Gauguin 90.”
Paul Gauguin, Haystacks in Brittany, 1890, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.11

Haystacks in Brittany

Paul Gauguin · 1890 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.11

Beyond a dense screen of stylized, dark brown tree trunks, bending branches, and sage and moss-green leaves, a man and woman ride side-by-side on horseback and embrace in this vertical landscape painting. Both people have pale skin. Closest to us, two spindly trees almost reach the top edge of the canvas, their stylized leaves silhouetted against the sky. Trees and bushes with laurel and dark green leaves create a band across the foreground. Near the bottom center of the composition, the woman is closer to us but she turns her face to touch noses with the man riding next to her. Long, straight blond hair flows to her waist. She has pronounced, dark eyes under heavy brows, and a large nose. She wears a burgundy-red jacket with horizontal, gold stripes across the chest. A white shirt beneath shows through where the jacket gapes open at the chest and at her cuffs. She holds the reins of her black horse in her left hand. The man turns his torso toward the woman and wraps his left arm, to our right, around the woman’s shoulders. He looks at her with black eyes under dark brows. He has a black, handlebar mustache and white hair. He wears a black and gold three-corner hat and a navy-blue jacket with gold braid in front and around the neck. His horse is brown with a silvery-white mane. Behind the people, the forest comes about two-thirds of the way up the composition. One tan-brown cloud hangs in the sky that lightens from seafoam green along the top edge to oyster white along the horizon. The artist signed the painting in the lower right: “Henri Rousseau.”
Henri Rousseau, Rendezvous in the Forest, 1889, oil on canvas, Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman, 1972.9.20

Rendezvous in the Forest

Henri Rousseau · 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1972.9.20

Bibliography

1999

  • Yeide, Nancy H. "The Marie Harriman Gallery." Archives of American Art Journal 39, nos. 1-2 (1999):2-11.