The Artist's Son, Paul

1886-1887

Paul Cezanne

Artist, French, 1839 - 1906

Shown from the waist up, pale-skinned young man wearing a bowler hat looks at us from the corners of his eyes in this vertical portrait painting. His body is angled to our right, and he cuts his dark eyes back to look at us, his lips pursed. He has a wide face, round cheeks, and a narrow chin. His white lapels are flipped up, and he wears a buttoned blue jacket. The black bowler hat seems a little too small for his head. The man and setting are painted with areas of mottled, streaked color. For instance, his peachy face is shaded with visible strokes of slate blue. His white collar is a blend of ice blue and frosty green, and his jacket is built up with daubs and strokes of marine blue, moss green, and gray. The white of the canvas underneath shows through in some areas, especially in the jacket. The wrist of one hand resting in the man’s lap is visible, and the back rail of the wooden chair in which he sits peeks out past the shoulder to our left. The wall behind him is painted loosely with the suggestion of a diamond pattern in laurel and olive green, parchment brown, rust orange, and muted blue. A rail or frame running close and parallel to the right edge of the canvas is patterned with elongated red teardrop shapes outlined by white, against a celestial-blue background.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 84

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Chester Dale Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 65.3 x 54 cm (25 11/16 x 21 1/4 in.)
    framed: 90.8 x 80.6 cm (35 3/4 x 31 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.100

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

By inheritance from the artist [1839-1906] to his wife Mme Paul Cezanne, Jas de Bouffan; sold 1918 in Monaco to Georges Bernheim, Paris;[1] by whom sold to Dr. Jacques Soubies, Paris; (his sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 14 June 1928, no. 30); purchased by (Galerie Étienne Bignou, Paris) for Chester Dale [1882-1962], New York; bequest 1963 to NGA.
[1]See letter from Etienne Bignou to Mary Bullard dated 8 January 1929 in NGA curatorial file.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1928

  • A Century of French Painting: Exhibition Organized for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, M. Knoedler & Company, New York, 1928, no. 26

  • Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 2

1965

  • The Chester Dale Bequest, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1965, unnumbered checklist.

2010

  • From Impressionism to Modernism: The Chester Dale Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, January 2010-January 2012, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2017

  • Cézanne Portraits, Musée D'Orsay, Paris; National Portrait Gallery, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2017-2018, no. 12.1, repro. (shown only in Washington).

Bibliography

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 58, repro., as Jeune Homme au Petit Chapeau.

1931

  • Dale, Maud. "Amerika und Europa." Kunst und Künstler (1931):repro. 243.

1935

  • Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 300, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 300, repro.).

1936

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

1938

  • Pemberton, Murdock. "Ambassador to Art." Esquire (February 1938): repro.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 68, repro.

1944

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 68, repro.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 78, repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 327, repro.

1965

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 117, repro.

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 25.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 18, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 90-91, color repro.

1970

  • Orienti 1970, no.516.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 60, repro.

1978

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 91, pl. 55.

1979

  • Watson, Ross. The National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1979: 120, pl. 108.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 503, no. 748, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 79, repro.

1996

  • Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: a catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New York, 1996:no. 649, repro.

1997

  • Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 364, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20189742

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