Banks of the Seine at Médan

c. 1885/1890

Paul Cezanne

Artist, French, 1839 - 1906

A row of structures and a massive weeping willow tree line the clay-orange riverbank opposite us in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with long, visible brushstrokes. Taking up much of the right side of the painting, the tree has emerald, moss, fern, and olive-green leaves with brown and purple trunk and roots. It casts long, gently rippling reflections in the water. The structures to our left are enclosed behind a terracotta-colored wall with a square tower. A second segment of wall, to our left, is charcoal gray. Trees grow up behind the structures. The sky above is painted with mingled strokes of lavender purple, baby blue, and white.

Media Options

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When Cézanne started painting in the 1860s, he worked primarily in the studio on figural compositions and still lifes. But the allure of the countryside soon drew his attention, and under the guidance of Camille Pissarro, with whom he painted in Pontoise and Auvers between 1872 and 1873, Cézanne fully embraced working regularly en plein air (in the open air).

This sunlit scene shows the extent to which the artist absorbed the lessons of impressionism, of capturing the visual sensations of nature with modulated brushwork that examines the relationship between color and light. The thin application of paint, with spots of canvas showing through, contributes to the light-soaked appearance of the scene. A bright palette of predominantly yellows and greens unifies the composition, while Cézanne’s distinct brushwork—with horizontal strokes creating the mirrored surface of the river and short parallel strokes forming much of the foliage—results in a cohesive, rhythmic surface.

The exact location of the setting has not been identified, but the theme of buildings nestled along a river landscape was one Cézanne returned to frequently.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 84

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 73 x 92.3 cm (28 3/4 x 36 5/16 in.)
    framed: 120 x 101.3 x 10.8 cm (47 1/4 x 39 7/8 x 4 1/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1970.17.21

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Ambroise Vollard [1867-1939], Paris); sold 31 July 1926 to Dr. Gottlieb Friedrich Reber [1880-1959], Lausanne, and (Galerie Thannhauser, Lucerne); on consignment from 4 August 1927 to D. Pagenstecher, Wiesbaden; sold 1951 to (Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich); sold 1955 to a private collection, from which it was returned 1964 to (Walter Feilchenfeldt, Zürich); sold 15 January 1964 to (M. Knoedler & Co., London, New York and Paris);[1] sold 13 June 1964 to Ailsa Mellon Bruce [1901-1969], New York; bequest 1970 to NGA.
[1] Provenance provided by Walter Feilchenfeldt in a letter dated 21 October 2000, in NGA curatorial files. The picture was exhibited at Thannhauser Gallery's first exhibition in Berlin in 1927. Pagenstecher is included in the provenance in Venturi's 1936 catalogue raisonné.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1927

  • Erste Sonderaustellung in Berlin, Galerien Thannhauser at Berliner Künsterlhaus, 1927, unnumbered catalogue, repro. p. 25

1956

  • Paul Cézanne, Kunsthaus Zurich, 1956, no. 61

  • Paul Cézanne, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, 1956, no. 36, repro.

1960

  • Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 1960, no. 77, repro.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 71, repro

1989

  • Impressionisti della National Gallery of Art di Washington, Ala Napoleonica e Museo Correr, Venice; Palazzo Reale, Milan, 1989, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

1990

  • Französische Impressionisten und ihre Wegbereiter aus der National Gallery of Art, Washington und dem Cincinnati Art Museum, Neue Pinakothek, Munich, 1990, no. 62, 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. 63, repro.

1999

  • Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art; Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, 1999, no. 55, repro.

  • Around Impressionism: French Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999, no cat.

2011

  • Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The National Art Center, Tokyo; Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 2011, no. 11, repro.

Bibliography

1936

  • Venturi, Lionello. Cezanne, son art, son oeuvre. 2 vols. Paris, 1936: no. 634.

1966

  • Goldwater, Robert. "The Glory that was France." Art News 65 (March 1966): 48, repro.

1970

  • Orienti 1970, no.738.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 62, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 507, no. 752, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 82, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 263.

1996

  • Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: a catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New York, 1996:no. 722, repro.

2001

  • Kropmanns, Peter, and Uwe Fleckner. "Von Kontinentaler Bedeutung: Gottlieb Freidrich Reber und seine Sammlungen." In Die Moderne und ihre Sammler. Andrea Pophanken and Felix Billeter, eds. Berlin, 2001: 387.

Wikidata ID

Q20190511

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