Cézanne’s affection for his family’s estate, Jas de Bouffan, near Aix, is reflected in the many views he painted of the property over a quarter century. He depicted the road at the lower right in this composition several times in the mid-1880s. Bordered with chestnut trees, it led from the back of an eighteenth-century house to landscaped gardens. Near the rail dividing the areas was a pool for collecting water and a washing trough, visible in the middle ground. The pool was flanked by waterspouts in the shape of lions, one of which may be seen here from behind.
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[Ambroise Vollard, Paris]; baron Denys Cochin, Paris (possibly in 1904); private collection of Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (by October 1913–at least 1930; cat., 1919, vol. 1, pl. 36, as "Les Marronniers du Jas de Bouffan"); [Knoedler, New York, probably by 1931–at least 1933]; private collection of Josse and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, Paris (in 1934); Dr. Philip Sandblom, Lund, Sweden (by 1935–46; sold May 1 to Durand-Ruel); [Durand-Ruel, Paris and New York, 1946; stock nos. D. 9489, St. N. Y. 5534; sold May 15 to Clark]; Stephen C. Clark, New York (1946–d. 1960)
Brussels. Musée d'Art Moderne. "Exposition des peintres impressionnistes," February 25–March 29, 1904, no. 17 (as "La Fontaine," lent by baron Cochin, possibly this picture).
Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Paul Cézanne," January 6–17, 1914, no. 23 (as "Les marronniers," lent by a private collection) [see Rewald 1996].
Paris. Musée des Arts Décoratifs. "Cinquante ans de peinture française, 1875–1925," May 28–July 12, 1925, no. 13 (as "Les marronniers du Jas de Bouffan," lent by MM. Josse and Gaston Bernheim Jeune).
New York. Knoedler Galleries. "The Landscape in French Painting: XIX–XX Centuries," October–November 1931, no. 23 (as "Le Jas de Bouffan (Aix-en-Provence)").
Art Institute of Chicago. "A Century of Progress," June 1–November 1, 1933, no. 311 (as "The 'Jas de Bouffan' [Aix-en-Provence]," lent by M. Knoedler and Co., New York).
Paris. Galerie Beaux-Arts. "Gauguin, ses amis: l'École de Pont-Aven et l'Académie Julian," February–March 1934, no. 27 (as "Le Jas de Bouffan," lent by MM. Bernheim jeunes [sic]).
Paris. Bernheim-Jeune. "Ecole 1830, Ecole impressionniste, Ecole post-impressionniste," May 28–June 1934, no catalogue [see Feilchenfeldt, Warman, and Nash 2014–?; Dauberville 2020, p. 130; Rewald 1996].
Paris. Galerie Bernheim-Jeune & Cie. "Quelques tableaux d'Ingres à Gauguin," June 11–July 13, 1935, no. 2 (as "Les Marronniers du Jas de Bouffan").
Stockholm. Svensk-Franska Konstgalleriet. "Mästerverk i Fransk 1800-Talskonst," December 1935, no. 2 (as "Les Marronniers, Jas de Bouffan," lent by Dr. Philip Sandblom, Sweden).
New York. Century Association. "Paintings from the Stephen C. Clark Collection," June 6–September 28, 1946, unnum. checklist (as "Paysage").
New York. M. Knoedler & Co. "A Collectors Taste: Selections from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Clark," January 12–30, 1954, no. 10 (as "Le Jas de Bouffan").
Aix-en-Provence. Pavillon de Vendôme. "Exposition pour commémorer le cinquantenaire de la mort de Cézanne," July 21–August 15, 1956, no. 36 (as "Bassin et lavoir du Jas de Bouffan," lent by Stephen C. Clark, New York).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 1–September 1, 1958, no. 17 (as "Graveyard," lent by Stephen C. Clark).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 7–September 7, 1959, no. 10 (as "Graveyard," lent by Stephen C. Clark).
New Haven. Yale University Art Gallery. "Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni," May 19–June 26, 1960, no. 75 (as "Le Jas de Bouffan," lent by Stephen C. Clark).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Paintings from Private Collections: Summer Loan Exhibition," July 6–September 4, 1960, no. 10 (as "Graveyard," lent by Stephen C. Clark).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "French Paintings from the Bequest of Stephen Clark," October 17, 1961–January 7, 1962, no catalogue [not mentioned in press release but probably included in exhibition].
Buenos Aires. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. "de Cézanne a Miró," May 15–June 5, 1968, unnumbered cat. (as "Junto al estanque de Jas de Bouffan").
Santiago. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de la Universidad de Chile. "de Cézanne a Miró," June 26–July 17, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Museo de Bellas Artes de Caracas. "de Cézanne a Miró," August 4–25, 1968, unnumbered cat.
Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh. "Franse meesters uit het Metropolitan Museum of Art: Realisten en Impressionisten," March 15–May 31, 1987, no. 25.
Edinburgh. National Gallery of Scotland. "Cézanne and Poussin: The Classical Vision of Landscape," August 1–October 19, 1990, no. 43 (as "Near the Pool at the Jas de Bouffan").
Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Classic Cézanne," November 27, 1998–February 28, 1999, no. 30.
Williamstown. Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. "The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings," June 4–September 4, 2006, no. 52.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings: The Clark Brothers Collect," May 22–August 19, 2007, no. 52.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence," March 12–July 29, 2018, unnumbered cat.
Cézanne. Paris, 1914, p. 74, pl. LV, as "Les Marronniers" in a private collection.
L'art moderne et quelques aspects de l'art d'autrefois; cent-soixante-treize planches d'après la collection privée de MM. J. & G. Bernheim-Jeune. Paris, 1919, vol. 1, pl. 36, as "Les Marronniers du Jas de Bouffan".
Georges Rivière. Le Maître Paul Cézanne. Paris, 1923, p. 214, calls it "Bassin et Lavoir dans le Parc du Jas de Bouffan" and dates it 1887; erroneously states that it is in the Pellerin collection; describes a stone lion on the right.
"L'actualité artistique." L'art vivant 1 (June 15, 1925), ill. p. 21, calls it "Les marronniers du Jas de Bouffant" [sic].
R. R. Tatlock. "An Exhibition of French Landscapes in New York." Burlington Magazine 59 (October 1931), pp. 194–95, pl. IIA.
The Landscape in French Painting: XIX–XX Centuries. Exh. cat., Knoedler Galleries. New York, 1931, no. 23, ill., dates it 1884–85.
A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture Lent from American Collections. Exh. cat., Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, 1933, p. 45, no. 311, dates it 1887 and notes that it is for sale.
Lionello Venturi. Cézanne: son art—son oeuvre. Paris, 1936, vol. 1, pp. 55, 204, no. 648; vol. 2, pl. 207, no. 648, calls it "Bassin et lavoir du Jas de Bouffan" and dates it 1888–90; locates it in the Zandblom [sic] collection, Sweden.
Fritz Novotny. Cézanne und das Ende der Wissenschaftlichen Perspektive. Vienna, 1938, pp. 38, 41, 199, no. 45.
Liliane Guerry. Cézanne et l'expression de l'espace. [1st ed.; 2nd ed., 1966]. Paris, 1950, p. 76.
John Richardson. "Cézanne at Aix-en-Provence." Burlington Magazine 98 (November 1956), p. 412, dates it 1885–86.
Exposition pour commémorer le cinquantenaire de la mort de Cézanne. Exh. cat., Pavillon de Vendôme. Aix-en-Provence, 1956, unpaginated, no. 36, ill., dates it 1885–86.
Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Collected by Yale Alumni. Exh. cat., Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, 1960, p. 73, no. 75, ill., dates it 1888–90.
Jean de Beucken. Cézanne: A Pictorial Biography. [German ed., 1960]. New York, 1962, p. 136, ill. p. 76, calls it "The Garden Pond at Le Jas de Bouffan" and dates it about 1885–86.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 3, XIX–XX Centuries. New York, 1967, pp. 104–5, ill., date it 1883, citing Douglas Cooper's verbal opinion.
De Cézanne a Miró. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires. New York, 1968, p. 9, ill. on frontispiece, dates it about 1883.
Sandra Orienti inL'opera completa di Cézanne. [French ed., 1975; English ed., 1985]. Milan, 1970, pp. 116–17, no. 670, ill., dates it 1888–90.
Adrien Chappuis. The Drawings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné. Greenwich, Conn., 1973, vol. 1, p. 199, under no. 763, p. 214, under no. 885, p. 215, under no. 891, compares it to two drawings (Enid A. Haupt, New York; Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, Upperville, Va.), both of which include the iron railing seen in this picture; calls another drawing (A. Chappuis, Tresserve) a study for this work.
Meyer Schapiro. P. Cézanne. Paris, 1973, ill. p. 60 (reversed), dates it 1888–90.
John Rewald. Paul Cézanne: The Watercolors, A Catalogue Raisonné. Boston, 1983, p. 111, under no. 113, discusses a watercolor (Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt) that includes the same pool as this picture.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 11, 186–87, 253, ill. (color).
Sjraar van Heutgen et al. inFranse meesters uit het Metropolitan Museum of Art: Realisten en Impressionisten. Exh. cat., Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam. Zwolle, The Netherlands, 1987, pp. 15, 17, 76–77, no. 25, ill. (color).
Richard Verdi. Cézanne and Poussin: The Classical Vision of Landscape. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1990, pp. 148–49, 161, no. 43, ill. (color), dates it 1888–90, placing it among more than a dozen paintings of the Jas de Bouffan from this period; compares it to Poussin's "Landscape with a Roman Road" (Dulwich Picture Gallery).
Hajo Düchting. Paul Cézanne 1839–1906: Natur wird Kunst. Ed. Ingo F. Walther. [Engl. ed., 1999]. Cologne, 1990, pp. 17, 223, ill. (color).
Evmarie Schmitt. Cézanne in Provence. [German ed., 1995]. Munich, 1995, pp. 66–68, 116, ill. (color), dates it 1885–90.
Jean-Jacques Lévêque. Paul Cézanne: Le précurseur de la modernité, 1839–1906. Paris, 1995, p. 19, ill. (color), dates it 1883.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 467, ill.
John Rewald, in collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt, and Jayne Warman. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 355, 379–80, 563–64, 568, 570–72, no. 566; vol. 2, ill. p. 186, fig. 566, calls it "Bassin et lavoir du Jas de Bouffan" and dates it 1885–86; based on its execution, connects it with landscapes of Gardanne of the same period (including The Met 57.181); notes that the paint is applied thinly, allowing the priming to show through, and that the deliberately applied brushstrokes do not fuse together, thus creating a lively surface.
Pavel Machotka. Cézanne: Landscape into Art. New Haven, 1996, pp. 21–22, 75, 130–33, fig. 118 (color), dates it 1888–90 and states that it was painted in the morning; compares it to photographs of the site and notes that the horizon line in the painting is higher than in the actual motif.
Terence Maloon inClassic Cézanne. Exh. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales. Sydney, 1998, pp. 25–26, 105–6, 110, 183, no. 30, ill. (color).
Denis Coutagne. "Les Paysages du Jas de Bouffan." Jas de Bouffan—Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence, 2004, pp. 114–16, ill. (color), lists sixteen paintings executed at the Jas de Bouffan between 1884 and 1896, including this one.
Sarah Lees inThe Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, Mass., 2006, pp. 248, 251, 315, 321, no. 52, fig. 183 (color).
Gilbert T. Vincent and Sarah Lees inThe Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, Mass., 2006, pp. 177, 180, fig. 148 (color installation photograph of Stephen Clark's townhouse).
Daniel Cohen-McFall inThe Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings. Exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. Williamstown, Mass., 2006, p. 137, notes that Clark traded the Corot "Castel Sant'Angelo" (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown) as credit toward the purchase of this work.
Robert Jensen inCézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde. Ed. Rebecca A. Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2006, pp. 34, 41, fig. 36 (color) [French ed., "De Cézanne à Picasso: Chefs-d'oeuvre de la galerie Vollard," Paris, 2007, pp. 48, 53], dates it late 1880s on p. 34 and in the caption, and 1886 on p. 41; calls it an early example of Cézanne's use of large blocks of transparent washes of color; notes that it was Degas who first brought Baron Cochin, who bought this work, to Vollard's gallery.
Denis Coutagne in Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne. Cézanne in Provence. Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2006, p. 335 n. 16 [French ed., Paris, p. 344 n. 16], lists it among the paintings executed at the Jas de Bouffan in the winter of 1885–86.
Pavel Machotka. Cézanne: The Eye and the Mind. Marseilles, 2008, vol. 1, unpaginated, no. 226, ill. (color); vol. 2, p. 155, ill., as "Bassin et lavoir du Jas de Bouffan"; dates it about 1889.
Walter Feilchenfeldt, Jayne Warman, and David Nash. The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. 2014–?, no. 215, ill. (color) [https://www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=553], as “Bassin et lavoir du Jas de Bouffan”; date it 1885–86; illustrate a pencil study for this picture (FWN 3003-12b) and a photograph of the motif by John Rewald.
Stefan Koldehoff. Ich und van Gogh: Bilder, Sammler und ihre abenteuerlichen Geschichten. Berlin, 2015, p. 77, ill. p. 74 (photograph of it in Clark's home, alongside Renoir's "Tilla Durieux" (The Met 61.101.13) and "Still Life with Peaches" (The Met 61.101.12)), notes that it hung next to Renoir's "Tilla Durieux" (The Met 61.101.13) in Clark's children's playroom.
Colta Ives. Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2018, pp. 97, 179, fig. 98 (color).
Pavel Machotka. "Quand la photographie (de John Rewald) éclaire la peinture (de Cezanne)." Cezanne Jas de Bouffan: Art et histoire. Ed. Denis Coutagne and François Chédeville. Lyons, 2019, p. 302, fig. 293 (color), declares it Cézanne’s most carefully composed painting of trees; notes the artist’s emphasis on the delicate curvature of the trunks and the order and rhythm of the background.
Guy-Patrice Dauberville Floriane Dauberville. Cezanne: Paul Cezanne chez Bernheim-Jeune. Paris, 2020, vol. 1, p. 418, no. 100, ill. p. 419, as "Le Jas de Bouffan ou Les Marronniers du Jas de Bouffan".
There exists a pencil study for this work (Chappuis 1973, no. 885). The pool is depicted in two other drawings (C763 and 891), a watercolor (Rewald 1983, no. 113), and in several oils, including one in the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Rewald 1996, no. 278) and another in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (R380).
Paul Cézanne (French, Aix-en-Provence 1839–1906 Aix-en-Provence)
ca. 1898
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