In addition to apples—a favorite motif of Cézanne’s—the ceramic jar and cup seen in this still life feature in numerous paintings by the artist. The wallpaper in the background appears in six works that he painted about 1877, when he rented an apartment at 67 rue de l’Ouest, Paris. Its pattern is echoed both by the shape of the white cloth on which the everyday items are arranged and by the painted floral decoration on the front of the wooden chest.
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Credit Line:H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929
Accession Number:29.100.66
[Ambroise Vollard, Paris, until 1901, not in stock book; one of seven Cézannes sold and then shipped, on June 5, to Havemeyer]; Mr. and Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, New York (1901–his d. 1907); Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1907–d. 1929; cat., 1931, pp. 58–59, ill., as "Still Life")
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 7 (as "Still Life") [2nd ed., New York, 1958, no. 65].
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Museum of Art. "Cézanne," November 10–December 10, 1934, no. 43.
New York. Arnold Seligmann-Helft Galleries. "French Still Life from Chardin to Cézanne," October 29–November 22, 1947, no. 5 (as "Pots & Fruits").
Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts. "The Springtime of Impressionism," April 3–May 2, 1948, no. 3.
Fort Worth Art Association. "Homer, Eakins, Ryder, Inness and Their French Contemporaries: A Loan Exhibition . . .," March 11–April 15, 1949, no. 11.
Art Gallery of Toronto. "Canadian National Exhibition," August 26–September 10, 1949, no. 33.
Akron, Ohio. Akron Art Institute. "Masterpiece Series," September 23–November 4, 1951, no catalogue.
New York. French Embassy. "Gastronomy in Fine Arts," November 29, 1951–January 30, 1952, no. 15 (as "Pot et fruits").
Art Institute of Chicago. "Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings," February 7–March 16, 1952, no. 20 (as "Still Life: Jar, Cup and Fruit").
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings," April 4–May 18, 1952, no. 20.
Duluth. Tweed Gallery, University of Minnesota. "Object of the Month Exhibition," December 1–31, 1952, no catalogue.
Milwaukee Art Institute. "Still Life Painting Since 1470," September 1956, no. 11.
Cincinnati Art Museum. "Still Life Painting Since 1470," October 1956, no. 11.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A72 (as "Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples").
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. "La collection Havemeyer: Quand l'Amérique découvrait l'impressionnisme...," October 20, 1997–January 18, 1998, no. 39 (as "Nature morte avec pot, tasse et pommes").
Martigny. Fondation Pierre Gianadda. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne," June 23–November 12, 2006, no. 50.
Barcelona. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. "Grandes maestros de la pintura europea de The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York: De El Greco a Cézanne," December 1, 2006–March 4, 2007, no. 42.
Berlin. Neue Nationalgalerie. "Französische Meisterwerke des 19. Jahrhunderts aus dem Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–October 7, 2007, unnumbered cat.
Paris. Musée du Luxembourg. "Cézanne et Paris," October 12, 2011–February 26, 2012, no. 58.
National Art Center, Tokyo. "Cézanne: Paris-Provence," March 28–June 11, 2012, no. 74.
Charles Saunier. Anthologie d'art français: La peinture—XIXe siècle. Paris, [1911], vol. 2, ill. p. 183, calls it "Nature morte".
"Havemeyer Collection at Metropolitan Museum: Havemeyers Paid Small Sums for Masterpieces." Art News 28 (March 15, 1930), p. 43, ill. p. 49, calls it "Still Life" and considers it "one of [Cézanne's] less powerful canvases".
"The H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Parnassus 2 (March 1930), pp. 7–8, ill., remarks that "there is no other arrangement from [Cézanne's] hand that is more completely realized".
Frank Jewett Mather Jr. "The Havemeyer Pictures." The Arts 16 (March 1930), pp. 450, 483, calls it a "sound rather than an extraordinary item" and remarks that the sense of a microcosm normally inherent in Cézanne's still-lifes is not powerfully expressed here; suggests that Arthur B. Davies advised Mrs. Havemeyer to purchase her Cézanne paintings.
Harry B. Wehle. "The Exhibition of the H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 25 (March 1930), p. 58.
H. O. Havemeyer Collection: Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. n.p., 1931, pp. 58–59, ill.
Lionello Venturi. Cézanne: son art—son oeuvre. Paris, 1936, vol. 1, pp. 35, 112–13, no. 213; vol. 2, pl. 58, no. 213, calls it "Poterie, tasse et fruits"; identifies the wallpaper in this picture as that seen in six other paintings dated about 1877: "Fruit Dish and Plate of Biscuits (private collection, Japan; V209, R325), "The Plate of Apples" (Art Institute of Chicago; V210, R328), "Apples and Biscuits" (private collection, South America; V212, R327), "Flask, Glass and Jar" (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; V214, R326), "Madame Cézanne Sewing" (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; V291, R323), and "Madame Cézanne in a Striped Skirt" (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; V292, R324); identifies this wallpaper as that in the house at 67 rue de l'ouest, Paris, where Cézanne lived throughout 1877.
Benjamin Storey. "Retrospettiva Cézanne." Emporium 115 (May 1952), ill. p. 200 (detail), calls it "Natura morta" and dates it about 1887.
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.
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. 98–99, ill., call it "Still Life"; identify the cup in three other still lifes, also dated about 1877 (Polo Corporation, Japan, V186, R319; private collection, V187, R320; present location unknown, V188, 321).
Sandra Orienti inL'opera completa di Cézanne. [French ed., 1975; English ed., 1985]. Milan, 1970, pp. 94, 96, no. 211, ill.
Howard Hibbard. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1980, pp. 429, 438, fig. 784 (color), dates it about 1876–77; remarks that it is closer to Impressionism than Cézanne's "Uncle Dominique" (MMA 53.140.1), but "the physical presence of the objects again shows his desire to create something solid"; compares it to Fantin-Latour's "Still Life with Pansies" (MMA 66.194).
John Rewald. Paul Cézanne: The Watercolors, A Catalogue Raisonné. Boston, 1983, p. 134, under no. 204, mentions it in discussing a study of a pottery jar (present location unknown), similar to the one included in this painting.
Charles S. Moffett. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985, pp. 180–81, 253, ill. (color, overall and detail).
Jill Anderson Kyle. "Cézanne's 'Les Joueurs de Cartes'." Master's thesis, Rice University, 1985, p. 99, fig. 35, calls it "Poterie, Tasse et Fruits" and dates it 1877; describes it as "a study of round forms within a rectilinear V motif" and comments that the jar reappears in "Vase of Tulips" (about 1890; Art Institute of Chicago; V617, R719).
Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, p. 256.
Richard Kendall, ed. Cézanne by Himself: Drawings, Paintings, Writings. London, 1988, pp. 94, 313, ill. (color).
Sidney Geist. Interpreting Cézanne. Cambridge, Mass., 1988, p. 136, compares the patterned wallpaper with that in "Madame Cézanne in a Striped Skirt" (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; V292, R324).
John Rewald with the research assistance of Frances Weitzenhoffer. Cézanne and America: Dealers, Collectors, Artists and Critics, 1891–1921. The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, Princeton, 1989, p. 128 n. 44, pp. 311, 349, fig. 157, as "Still Life with Green Jar and White Cup".
Raymond Jean inSainte-Victoire, Cézanne. Exh. cat., Musée Granet. Aix-en-Provence, 1990, p. 357, figs. 187 and 188 (upside down), as "Poterie, tasse et fruits"; dates it 1877.
Susan Alyson Stein inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 246, identifies this painting or "Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants" (MMA 61.101.4) as the picture called "Fruits" which was bought by the Havemeyers through Cassatt during a trip to Europe in April 1907, deposited with Durand-Ruel on May 7, and shipped to the Havemeyers in New York on May 11 [see Ref. Warman 2006, who dates the trip to April 1906, and identifies MMA 61.101.4 as the picture bought during this trip].
Götz Adriani. Cézanne: Gemälde. Exh. cat., Kunsthalle Tübingen. Cologne, 1993, p. 80 n. 2 [English ed., 1995].
Gretchen Wold inSplendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, pp. 302–4, no. A72, ill.
Maria Teresa Benedetti. Cézanne. [Italian ed., 1995]. Paris, 1995, p. 117, ill. (color).
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 466, ill., as "Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples".
John Rewald, in collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt, and Jayne Warman. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 216–17, 220, 223, 319, 568, no. 322; vol. 2, p. 103, fig. 322, calls it "Poterie, tasse et fruits sur une nappe blanche" and dates it about 1877; notes that the green jar, or one similar, appears in many subsequent still lifes, sometimes as a flower vase, and that the white cup was used in three other still lifes [see Ref. Sterling and Salinger 1967]; identifes the wooden chest in "Les accessoires de Cézanne. Nature morte au médaillon de Philippe Solari" (about 1873; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; V67, R211); considers the wallpaper here to be a more elaborate version than that seen in other works [see Ref. Venturi 1936].
Erik Saxon. "'Overall Space': Comparing van Gogh, Mondrian and Pollock." Van Gogh 100. Ed. Joseph D. Masheck. Westport, Conn., 1996, p. 347, fig. 25.2, mentions the use of the diamond as a structural element in this work.
Theodore Reff. "Cézanne et Chardin." Cézanne aujourd'hui. Paris, 1997, p. 21, discusses this picture in relation to Chardin.
Kathryn Calley Galitz inThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 2006, pp. 254–56, no. 50, ill. (color) [Catalan ed., Barcelona, 2006, pp. 138–39, no. 42, ill. (color)], notes that the white cloth napkin has been interpreted as a reference to Mont Sainte-Victoire.
Katharine Baetjer inThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: Chefs-d'œuvre de la peinture européenne. Exh. cat., Fondation Pierre Gianadda. Martigny, 2006, p. 18 [Catalan ed., Barcelona, 2006].
Jayne S. Warman inCézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde. Ed. Rebecca A. Rabinow. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2006, p. 340 n. 3, under no. 36, identifies this picture among the seven Cézannes shipped to the Havemeyers by Vollard on June 5, 1901.
Kathryn Calley Galitz inMasterpieces of European Painting, 1800–1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 122, 219–20, no. 111, ill. (color and black and white).
Michael R. Taylor inCézanne and Beyond. Exh. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2009, p. 559 n. 31, calls it "Still Life with Green Jar and White Cup".
Jayne S. Warman in Gail Stavitsky and Katherine Rothkopf. Cézanne and American Modernism. Exh. cat., Montclair Art Museum. Montclair, 2009, p. 88 n. 34.
Emily Schuchardt Navratil in Gail Stavitsky and Katherine Rothkopf. Cézanne and American Modernism. Exh. cat., Montclair Art Museum. Montclair, 2009, p. 361.
Jean Colrat inCézanne and Paris. Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg. Paris, 2011, p. 120 [French ed., 2011], notes that Cézanne painted it around 1880, during or shortly after the execution of “The Eternal Feminine” (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles), which shares its use of the diamond form.
Benedict Leca inCézanne and Paris. Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg. Paris, 2011, p. 118 [French ed., 2011], discusses how its surface typography problematizes its illusion of spatial depth.
Cézanne and Paris. Exh. cat., Musée du Luxembourg. Paris, 2011, p. 218, no. 58, ill. p. 121 (color).
Denis Coutagne inCézanne: Paris-Provence. Exh. cat., National Art Center, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2012, pp. 118, 182, 219.
Cézanne: Paris-Provence. Exh. cat., National Art Center, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2012, p. 228, no. 74, ill. p. 123 (color).
Koji Kudo inCézanne: Paris-Provence. Exh. cat., National Art Center, Tokyo. Tokyo, 2012, pp. 120, 125.
Karsten Schubert. "Cézanne and Paris." The Burlington Magazine 154 (April 2012), p. 295, fig. 69 (color).
Jean Colrat. Cézanne: Joindre les mains errantes de la nature. Paris, 2013, pp. 199, 207, fig. 89 (color), calls it "Poterie, tasse et fruits"; discusses the diamond motif of the wallpaper and its appearance in several of Cézanne's still lifes between 1873 and 1880.
Walter Feilchenfeldt, Jayne Warman, and David Nash. The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. 2014–?, no. 737, ill. (color) [https://www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=318], as “Poterie, tasse et fruits sur une nappe blanche”.
Paul Smith inThe World is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne. Ed. Benedict Leca. Exh. cat., Barnes Foundation Philadelphia. Hamilton, Ontario, 2014, pp. 132–33, fig. 16 (color), ill. (color detail) p. 131, notes that the thick paint representing the hollow inside of the cup and the “sunken” gaps between the fruit indicate Cézanne’s tendency to replace contour lines with color.
Laura D. Corey and Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen. "Visions of Collecting." Making The Met, 1870–2020. Ed. Andrea Bayer with Laura D. Corey. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2020, pp. 140, 365 n. 54.
Paul Smith inCezanne to Malevich: Arcadia to Abstraction. Ed. Judit Geskó. Exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest. Budapest, 2021, p. 47, fig. 3 (color), links the discrepancies in the representation of the wallpaper in this and other still lifes Cézanne executed in 1877 to the perceptual theories of Anton Ehrenzweig.
The six other paintings depicting the same wallpaper as in this picture are: Madame Cézanne Sewing (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm; Venturi 1936, no. 291, Rewald 1996, no. 323), Madame Cézanne in Striped Skirt (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; V292, R324); Fruit Dish and Plate of Biscuits (private collection, Japan; V209, R325); Flask, Glass and Jar (Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; V214, R326); Apples and Biscuits (private collection, South America; V212, R327), and The Plate of Apples (Art Institute of Chicago; V210, R328). The white cup is used in three other still lifes (Polo Corporation, Japan, V186, R319; private collection, V187, R320; and present location unknown, V188, R321). The wooden chest appears in Les accessoires de Cézanne. Nature morte au médaillon de Philippe Solari (Musée d'Orsay, Paris; V67, R211).
Paul Cézanne (French, Aix-en-Provence 1839–1906 Aix-en-Provence)
ca. 1888 (recto); n.d. (verso)
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