Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert (born 1817), the Artist's Uncle | Paul Cézanne | Collection Database | Works of Art

Gallery LabelCézanne set out to make his mark at the onset of his career with a group of highly wrought landscapes and figure paintings that he later described as "gutsy" (couillard), given their forceful-even brute-character. In emulation of his hero, Courbet, he applied his paint directly with a palette knife on the coarse, unprimed canvas, in thick, blocky passages, destined to produce cracks. Cézanne's approach imparted weight and vigor to the series of at least nine portraits of his maternal uncle Dominique Aubert. The forty-nine-year-old bailiff not only indulged his nephew with multiple sittings but also agreed to pose in various costumes, such as that of a Dominican monk. (That painting is on view in the adjacent Annenberg Collection Gallery.)

ProvenanceProbably the sitter, the artist's uncle, Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert, Arles (until summer 1899; presumably one of twelve works by Cézanne sold to Vollard); [Ambroise Vollard, Paris, 1899; sold July 10 with a "tête de femme" by Van Gogh for Fr 1,000 to Rosenberg]; [Alexandre Rosenberg, Paris, 1899; purchased for equivalent of $120; sold for $180 to Pellerin]; Auguste Pellerin, Paris (ca. 1899–1916); [Josse Hessel, Paris, 1916–20]; Marius de Zayas, New York (1920–ca. 1921); Lizzie (Lillie) P. Bliss, New York (ca. 1921–d. 1931; bequeathed to the Museum of Modern Art); Museum of Modern Art, New York (1931–51; cat., 1942, no. 83; 1948 ed., no. 127; sold to MMA)

Exhibition History

Paris. Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées. "Salon d'automne," October 1–22, 1907, no. 2.

New York. Modern Gallery. 1921, unnumbered cat.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Loan Exhibition of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings," May 3–September 15, 1921, no. 4.

Brooklyn Museum. "Summer Exhibition of Modern French and American Painters," June 12–October 14, 1926, no catalogue.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "First Loan Exhibition: Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, van Gogh," November 8–December 7, 1929, no. 1.

Andover, Mass. Addison Gallery of American Art. "The Collection of Miss Lizzie P. Bliss: Fourth Loan Exhibition," October 17–December 15, 1931, no. 1.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lizzie P. Bliss, Vice-President of the Museum," May 17–September 27, 1931, no. 1.

Indianapolis. John Herron Art Institute. "Modern Masters from the Collection of Miss Lizzie P. Bliss," January 1932, no. 1.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "The Lillie P. Bliss Collection," May 14–September 12, 1934, no. 1.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Modern Works of Art," November 20, 1934–January 20, 1935, no. 1.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Art in Our Time," May 10–September 30, 1939, no. 56.

Art Institute of Chicago. "Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings," February 7–March 16, 1952, no. 5.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings," April 4–May 18, 1952, no. 5.

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Cézanne: The Early Years, 1859–1872," April 22–August 21, 1988, no. 22.

Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "Cézanne: les années de jeunesse, 1859–1872," September 19, 1988–January 1, 1989, no. 22.

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Cézanne: The Early Years, 1859–1872," January 29–April 30, 1989, no. 22.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Origins of Impressionism," September 27, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 25.

Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Cézanne," May 30–September 1, 1996, no. 7.

New York. Museum of Modern Art. "Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885," June 26–September 12, 2005, no. 7.

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "Cézanne in Provence," January 29–May 7, 2006, no. 9.

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920," February 4–May 6, 2007, no. 72.

References

Eliot Clark. "Considerations on Modernistic Aesthetics." Art in America 9 (August 1921), ill. p. 213.

Loan Exhibition of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1921, p. 4, no. 4, fig. 4.

Georges Rivière. Le maître Paul Cézanne. Paris, 1923, p. 204, ill. opp. p. 10.

Roger Fry. "New Laurels for the Scorned Cézanne." New York Times Magazine (May 1, 1927), p. 6, ill.

Kurt Pfister. Cézanne: Gestalt/Werk/Mythos. Potsdam, 1927, fig. 33.

A[lfred]. H. B[arr]. Jr. First Loan Exhibition: Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, van Gogh. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1929, pp. 19, 33, no. 1, ill.

A[lbert] H. B[arr]., JR. Memorial Exhibition: The Collection of the Late Miss Lizzie P. Bliss, Vice-President of the Museum. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1931, pp. 11, 19, no. 1, ill.

James Johnson Sweeney. "The Bliss Collection." Creative Art 8 (May 1931), p. 357.

R. H. Wile[n]ski. French Painting. Boston, 1931, p. 309.

Georges Rivière. Cézanne: le peintre solitaire. Paris, 1933, ill. p. 21.

Modern Works of Art. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1934, pp. 11, 23, no. 1, pl. 1.

Jerome Klein in The Lillie P. Bliss Collection. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1934, pp. 5, 9, 21–22, no. 1, fig. 1.

René Huyghe. Cézanne. Paris, 1936, pp. 12, 32, 67, fig. 11.

Lionello Venturi. Cézanne: son art—son oeuvre. Paris, 1936, vol. 1, pp. 21, 82, no. 73; vol. 2, pl. 19, no. 73.

Robert J. Goldwater. "Cézanne in America: The Master's Paintings in American Collections." Art News, section I (The 1938 Annual), 36 (March 26, 1938), p. 136.

R. H. Wilenski. Modern French Painters. New York, [1940], p. 10, pl. 3.

Sheldon Cheney. The Story of Modern Art. [4th reprint, 1947]. New York, 1941, pp. 210–12, ill.

Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1942, p. 30, no. 83, ill.

[Paul Rosenberg]. Paintings by Cézanne (1839–1906). Exh. cat., Paul Rosenberg & Co. November 19–December 19, 1942, p. 19.

Bernard Dorival. Cézanne. New York, 1948, pp. 25, 128, 138.

Bernard Dorival. Cézanne. Fr. ed. [Eng. ed., New York, 1948]. Paris, 1948, pp. 29, 133, 142.

John Rewald. Paul Cézanne: A Biography. New York, 1948, p. x, fig. 17.

Liliane Guerry. Cézanne et l'expression de l'espace. Paris, 1950, p. 28.

John Rewald. The Ordeal of Paul Cézanne. London, 1950, pp. vii, 36–37, pl. 4.

Daniel Catton Rich in Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. [Chicago], 1952, pp. 16–17, no. 5, ill.

Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 17.

Ronald Alley Lawrence Gowing in An Exhibition of Paintings by Cézanne. Exh. cat., Royal Scottish Academy Building. Edinburgh, 1954, unpaginated, under no. 2.

Maurice Raynal. Cézanne. Lausanne, 1954, pp. 23, 30, ill. (color).

Yvon Taillandier. P. Cézanne. New York, [196-], pp. 9, 15, 28, ill. (color).

Melvin Waldfogel. "The Bathers of Paul Cézanne." PhD diss., Harvard University, 1961, vol. 1, p. 30.

Wayne V. Andersen. "A Cézanne Self-Portrait Drawing Reidentified." Burlington Magazine 106 (June 1964), p. 285.

Nello Ponente. Cézanne. [Milan], [ca. 1966], unpaginated, ill. in b&w and colorpl. I.

Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX–XX Centuries." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 3, New York, 1967, pp. 96–97, ill.

Richard W. Murphy et al. The World of Cézanne: 1839–1906. New York, 1968, p. 27, ill. (color).

Margaretta M. Salinger. "Windows Open to Nature." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 27 (Summer 1968), p. 35, ill.

Sandra Orienti in L'opera completa di Cézanne. [French ed., 1975; English ed., 1985]. Milan, 1970, pp. 88–89, no. 56, ill.

Marcel Brion. Paul Cézanne. Milan, 1972, p. 14, fig. 2 (color).

Meyer Schapiro. P. Cézanne. Paris, 1973, unpaginated, ill.

Nicholas Wadley. Cézanne and His Art. London, 1975, pp. 14–15, 19, pl. 11 (color).

Cézanne in Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1975, fig. 1.

Lionello Venturi. Cézanne. Geneva, 1978, pp. 52–53, ill. (color).

Howard Hibbard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1980, pp. 429, 440–41, fig. 788 (color).

Richard Shiff. Cézanne and the End of Impressionism. Chicago, 1984, pp. 204–5, 266 n. 30, fig. 45.

Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 176–77, 253, ill. (color).

Gary Neil Wells. "Metaphorical Relevance and Thematic Continuity in the Early Paintings of Paul Cézanne, 1865–1877." PhD diss., Ohio State University, 1987, pp. 71–73, 76–81, 106 n. 53, p. 276, pl. XVIII.

Lawrence Gowing et al. in Cézanne: The Early Years 1859–1872. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts. London, 1988, pp. 9, 61, 65 nn. 63, 65, 71, pp. 92, 100, 102, 104, 112–14, 182, 215, 218, no. 22, ill. (color) [French ed., Paris, 1988, pp. 22, 60, 64 nn. 63, 65, 71, pp. 86, 92, 94–95, 100–101, 152, 188–89, 200, 205, 211, no. 22, ill. (color)].

Richard Shone. "London, Royal Academy: Early Cézanne." Burlington Magazine 130 (June 1988), pp. 480–81, fig. 75.

John Rewald with the research assistance of Frances Weitzenhoffer in Cézanne and America: Dealers, Collectors, Artists and Critics, 1891–1921. The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, Princeton, 1989, pp. 325, 327, 349, figs. 170–71.

Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer. "Museum News: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 'Cézanne: The Early Years, 1859–1872'." Art Journal 49 (Spring 1990), pp. 72–74, fig. 2.

Hajo Düchting. Paul Cézanne 1839–1906: Natur wird Kunst. [Eng. ed., 1999]. Cologne, 1990, pp. 34–35, 37, ill. (color).

Gary Tinterow and Henri Loyrette. Origins of Impressionism. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1994, pp. 202–3, 296, 345–46, no. 25, fig. 252 (color), ill. p. 345 [French ed., "Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869," Paris, 1994, pp. 202–3, 344–45, no. 25, fig. 252 (color), ill. p. 344].

Maria Teresa Benedetti. Cézanne. [Italian ed., 1995]. Paris, 1995, p. 52, ill. (color).

Henri Loyrette in Cézanne. Exh. cat., Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris. Philadelphia, 1996, pp. 87–89, 91, 92, no. 7, ill. (color) [Fr. ed., "Cézanne," Paris, 1995, pp. 88–89, 91, 92, no. 7, ill.].

John Rewald in collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt and Jayne Warman in The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 102, 563, 566–67, 570, 572–73, no. 107; vol. 2, p. 36, fig. 107.

Karen Wilkin. "Monsieur Pellerin's Collection." New Criterion. 14, April 1996, p. 22.

James H. Rubin. Courbet. London, 1997, pp. 318–19, fig. 208 (color).

John House in Sona Johnston. Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from American Collections. Exh. cat., Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, 1999, pp. 22–23, fig. 11 (color).

Joachim Pissarro. Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne & Pissarro 1865–1885. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2005, p. 37, ill. p. 77 (color detail) and colorpl. 7.

Philip Conisbee in Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne. Cézanne in Provence. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2006, p. 11.

Denis Coutagne in Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne. Cézanne in Provence. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2006, pp. 81, 316, no. 9, colorpl. 9.

Susan Alyson Stein in The Masterpieces of French Painting from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1800–1920. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. New York, 2007, pp. 106, 184, no. 72, ill. (color and bw).

Susan Alyson Stein in Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 120, 218, no. 109, ill. (color and bw).

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