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The Pond
Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906)
about 1877–79
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
47 x 56.2 cm (18 1/2 x 22 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Tompkins Collection—Arthur Gordon Tompkins Fund
Accession Number48.244
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
In the early 1870s, Cézanne was living in Auvers, a small town outside Paris, and learning to work directly from nature. The Pond is painted in small, parallel strokes of blues and greens, an early version of the distinctive brushwork that plays a key role in the construction of Cézanne's mature paintings. Here, figures are placed boldly against the landscape. Cézanne would more fully integrate figure and landscape in his many later paintings of bathers.
ProvenanceProbably about 1870s-1880s, sold by the artist to Gustave Caillebotte (b. 1848 - d. 1894), Paris [see note 1]; at his death, by inheritance to his brother, Martial Caillebotte, Paris [see note 2]; by descent to Gustave Caillebotte's nephew, G. Chardeau, Paris; sold by Chardeau to André Weil Gallery, Paris and Matignon Art Galleries, New York [see note 3]; 1948, sold by André Weil and Matignon Art Galleries to the MFA for $35,000. (Accession Date: February 12, 1948)
Notes
[1] Caillebotte began to buy his friends' paintings soon after they were created, including several by Cézanne.
[2] Caillebotte bequeathed his collection to the Musée de Luxembourg, Paris, though it was only partially accepted. This painting was one of the works refused; see John Rewald, "The Paintings of Paul Cézanne" (New York, 1996), vol. 1, p. 258. According to information supplied by the Getty Provenance Index, Martial Caillebotte, one of the executors of his brother's estate, received the rejected portion of the bequest.
[3] According to an undated copy of a letter from Mr. Chardeau to André Weil, in the MFA curatorial file.
Notes
[1] Caillebotte began to buy his friends' paintings soon after they were created, including several by Cézanne.
[2] Caillebotte bequeathed his collection to the Musée de Luxembourg, Paris, though it was only partially accepted. This painting was one of the works refused; see John Rewald, "The Paintings of Paul Cézanne" (New York, 1996), vol. 1, p. 258. According to information supplied by the Getty Provenance Index, Martial Caillebotte, one of the executors of his brother's estate, received the rejected portion of the bequest.
[3] According to an undated copy of a letter from Mr. Chardeau to André Weil, in the MFA curatorial file.