The Peppermint Bottle

1893/1895

Paul Cezanne

Artist, French, 1839 - 1906

A glass bottle, a glass carafe, a stemmed glass, several pieces of fruit, and white and blue cloths are arranged on a wooden table in this horizontal still life. The bottle and carafe are at the center of this composition. The bottle has a crimson-red label, and the carafe has a tall, narrow neck and a rounded body. The stemmed glass has straight, flaring sides, and it sits on the table just in front of the carafe. Several pieces of fruit, painted in reds and yellows, are interspersed on the white cloth that surrounds the glassware. The muted, celestial-blue tablecloth is patterned with scrolls and leaves, and it bunches around the objects on the tabletop. The wall behind the table is mottled with cool blues and greens, and a brown line, perhaps a chair rail, runs from behind the still life to the right edge of the painting. Short brushstrokes are visible throughout.

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: 65.9 x 82.1 cm (25 15/16 x 32 5/16 in.)
    framed: 105.7 x 90.8 cm (41 5/8 x 35 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1963.10.104

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

(Ambroise Vollard [1867-1939], Paris). Maurice Gangnat, Paris; sold 1913 to (Paul Rosenberg and Co., London, New York, and Paris); sold to Emile Staub, Männedorf, Switzerland, by 1923.[1] (Paul Rosenberg and Co., London, New York, and Paris); sold 19 November 1927 to Chester Dale [1993-1962], New York;[2] gift 1963 to NGA.
[1] Letter from Paul Rosenberg to Chester Dale, dated 11 February 1943, quoted in NGA curatorial file, recounts Rosenberg's role between Gangnat and Staub. The Staub collection is described in La Renaissance (August 1923) and "L'Art français dans les collections privées en Suisse: La collection Emile Staub," L'Amour de l'Art, January 1926, p. 42.
[2] Date of purchase from Rosenberg in Chester Dale papers in NGA curatorial file. It is possible that Etienne Bignou was also involved in the sale, as a photograph of the picture is included in the Etienne Bignou albums at the documentation center of the Musée d'Orsay (copy, NGA curatorial files). Bignou often acted for Dale.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1928

  • Loan Exhibition of Modern French Art from the Chester Dale Collection for the Benefit of the French Hospital of New York, Wildenstein Galleries, 1928, no. 3

  • Paul Cezanne, Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1928, no. 1, as Grand Nature Morte.

1929

  • First Loan Exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1929, no. 26, repro.

1930

  • Cent ans de peinture française, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1930, no. 27, repro., as Nature morte.

  • "La Nature Morte" from Chardin to the Abstract. Wildenstein Galleries, New York, 1930, no. 5

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.

Bibliography

1926

  • "L'Art Français dans les Collections privées en Suisse: La Collection Emile Staub," L'Amour de L'Art VII (1926): 42, repro. 44.

1929

  • Dale, Maud. Before Manet to Modigliani from the Chester Dale Collection. New York, 1929: no. 59, repro., as Grande Nature Morte.

1930

  • "De Delacroix à nos Jours: une exposition-programme à la Galerie Georges Petit," Caheirs d'Art 5, no. 5 (July 1930): repro. 258.

1936

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

1941

  • Catalogue of French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 1, repro. pl. I

  • "The Chester Dale Pictures on loan to the National Gallery of Art." Magazine of Art 34 no. 9 (November 1941): 476+, repro.

1942

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 71, repro.

  • "Art News Series of Masterpieces in American Museums, no. 5: Chester Dale Collection." Art News (15 May 1942): repro.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1944: 182, color repro., as Still Life.

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1944: 71, repro., as Still Life.

  • Jewell, Edward Alden. French Impressionists and their Contemporaries Represented in American Collections. New York, 1944: repro. 94.

1946

  • Favorite Paintings from the National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.. New York, 1946: 77-79, color repro., as Still Life.

1953

  • French Paintings from the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1953: 81, repro., as Still Life.

1959

  • Evans, Grose. French Painting of the 19th Century in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Two in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 40, color repro., as Still Life.

1960

  • The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 9, color repro. 16, as Still Life.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 270, repro., as Still Life.

1965

  • Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Paintings & Sculpture of the French School in the Chester Dale Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 120, repro.

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

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:462, color repro., as Still Life.

1968

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

1970

  • Orienti 1970, no.781.

1973

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 114 repro.

1975

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

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 496, no. 736, color repro., as Still Life.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 81, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 5, color repro.

1992

  • Naubert-Riser, Constance. Cézanne. London, 1992, 100, repro., as Still-Life with Peppermint Bottle and Blue Rug.

1996

  • Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: a catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New York, 1996:no. 772, repro.

  • Tansey, Richard G. and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. 10th ed. Fort Worth, 1996: 997, color fig. 76.73.

1997

  • Kelder, Diane. The Great Book of French Impressionism, 1997, no. 366, repro.

1999

  • Vogel, Carol. "Finding Fashion and History on th Edges: Museums Look Again at Their Picture Frames." New York Times (September 2, 1999): C1, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q20190377

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