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Major Exhibition of Paul Cézanne’s Portraits at the National Gallery of Art

Paul Cézanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat

Paul Cézanne, Boy in a Red Waistcoat, 1888–1890, oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art

Cézanne’s Portraits at the NGA Washington Bringing together some 60 paintings drawn from collections around the world, Cézanne Portraits is the first exhibition devoted exclusively to this often-neglected genre of his work. March 25 through July 1, 2018.]]>

Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington

The revelatory exhibition explores the pictorial and thematic characteristics of Paul Cézanne’s (1839–1906) portraits, the chronological development of his style and method, and the range and influence of his sitters.

“This exhibition provides an unrivaled opportunity to reveal the extent and depth of Cézanne’s achievement in portraiture,” said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art. “The partnership between the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris has made it possible to explore his working techniques as well as his intellectual solutions to representation in these exceptional portraits.”

Cézanne painted almost 200 portraits, including 26 self-portraits and nearly 30 portraits of his wife, Hortense Fiquet, as well as portraits of his son Paul and his uncle Dominique Aubert, art dealer Ambroise Vollard, critic Gustave Geffroy, and the local men and women in his native Aix-en-Provence. The exhibition presents a selection of portraits that reveals the most personal and human aspects of Cézanne’s art.

”Cézanne Portraits” explores the artist’s series of portraits of the same sitter; traces his portraits chronologically, revealing changes in style and method; and shows the full range of his sitters and how they influenced his practice. Cézanne’s unique vision was informed by a desire to see through appearances to the underlying structure using mass, line, and shimmering color. The exhibition traces the development of Cézanne’s portraits and the changes that occurred through style and method and the understanding of resemblance and identity.

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Cézanne Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery (exhibition, 2017)

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Major Exhibition of Paul Cézanne's Portraits at the National Gallery of Art