June 4, 2021

Cézanne Drawing at The Museum of Modern Art, June 6 – September 25, 2021

 “The Museum of Modern Art presents a major exhibition offering a new look at the celebrated modern artist Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) through close attention to his process in pencil and watercolor and fresh insights into this profoundly original yet lesser-known body of work. Cézanne Drawing, on view at MoMA from June 6 through September 25, 2021, is the first major effort in the United States to unite drawings from across the artist’s entire career, tracing the development of his practice on paper and exploring his working methods. More than 250 works on paper— including drawings, sketchbooks, and rarely seen watercolors—are shown alongside a selection of related oil paintings, all drawn from MoMA’s collection as well as public and private collections from around the world. Presented together, these works reveal how this fundamental figure of modern art—more often recognized as a painter—produced his most radical works on paper.” — The Museum of Modern Art

Paul Cézanne. The Apotheosis of Delacroix. 1878-80 (completed later). Pencil, ink, and watercolor on wove paper, with a strip added at the bottom, 7 7/8 × 9 3/16″ (20 × 23.3 cm). The British Museum, London © The Trustees of the British Museum
Paul Cézanne. Bathers (Baigneurs). 1885–90. Watercolor and pencil on wove paper, 5 × 8 1/8″ (12.7 × 20.6 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Photo © 2021 MoMA, NY
Paul Cézanne. Mercury after Pigalle. c. 1890. Pencil on paper, 15 x 11″ (38.1 x 27.9 cm). The Museum of Modern Art. The Joan and Lester Avnet Fund © 2021 The Museum of Modern Art, Imaging and Visual Resources, photo Peter Butler
Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Cut Watermelon (Nature morte avec pastèque entamée). c. 1900. Pencil and watercolor on paper, 12 3/8 × 19 1/8″ (31.5 × 48.5 cm). Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel. Beyeler Collection. Photo: Peter Schibli
Paul Cézanne. Mont Sainte-Victoire (La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves). 1902–06. Watercolor and pencil on wove paper, 16 3/4 x 21 3/8″ (42.5 x 54.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. David Rockefeller. Photo © 2021 MoMA, NY
Paul Cézanne. Forest Landscape. 1904–06. Pencil and watercolor on paper, 18 5/8 × 23 5/8″ (47.3 × 60 cm). Private collection
Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Blue Pot. 1900-06. Pencil and watercolor on paper, 18 15/16 × 24 7/8″ (48.1 × 63.2 cm). The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Paul Cézanne. Coat on a Chair (Veste sur une chaise). 1890-92. Pencil and watercolor on laid paper. 18 1/4 × 11 3/4″ (46.4 × 29.8 cm). Private collection
Paul Cézanne. Study of a Skull (Étude de crâne). 1902-04. Pencil and watercolor on paper. 9 × 12 3/16″ (22.9 × 31 cm). Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation (on extended loan to the Princeton University Art Museum) The Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection / Art Resource, NY, photo: Bruce M. White
Paul Cézanne. Still Life with Carafe, Bottle, and Fruit (La Bouteille de cognac). 1906. Pencil and watercolor on paper. 18 7/8 × 24 5/8″ (48 × 62.5 cm). Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation (on extended loan to the Princeton University Art Museum) The Henry and Rose Pearlman Collection / Art Resource, NY, photo: Bruce M. White
Paul Cézanne. Hortense Fiquet (Madame Cézanne) Sewing (Madame Cézanne cousant). c. 1880. Pencil on laid paper. 18 9/16 × 12 3/16″ (47.2 × 30.9 cm). The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London. Princes Gate Bequest © Courtauld Gallery The Samuel Courtauld Trust/Bridgeman Images

Cézanne Drawing is organized by Jodi Hauptman, Senior Curator, and Samantha Friedman, Associate Curator, with Kiko Aebi, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Drawings and Prints. Laura Neufeld, Associate Conservator, David Booth Department of Conservation, is a key collaborator, part of the project’s curatorial-conservation partnership.

Images courtesy The Museum of Modern Art.