Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Plaster Cupid

Rachel Ropeik: [0:06] We’re in the Courtauld Galleries, and we’re looking at “Still Life with Plaster Cupid.” It dates to the middle of his career. Dr. Steven Zucker: [0:11] I do think it’s a little bit hard to find one point of view that works for this whole painting. If you look at the table in the foreground with these fruits and this little plaster cast, then that seems to have been painted from one angle. If you look toward the background, then all of a sudden, is that the floor, or is that a piece of drapery? It’s hard to unify. Rachel: [0:34] Okay, so maybe we should start in the foreground. We have this plaster cast of a putti, of this little angelic figure. No arms. He’s rather cute. He’s a little elongated, and he’s in a kind of contrapposto, so that he’s actually moving. Dr. Zucker: [0:52] But what Cézanne seems to have done is to actually accentuate the turn of his body, which becomes a kind of axis for the entire painting. And then something even more interesting happens, which is that as you move back you see a series of stacked canvases. [1:02] Perhaps a stretcher bar of a canvas that’s facing away from us, a canvas seen in an oblique angle just in back of the putti’s back. Then there’s a figure on the upper right. It seems to be moving. And we have the fruit on the floor maybe, which is… Dr. Beth Harris: [0:00] A giant piece of fruit. Dr. Zucker: [1:18] …on the floor perhaps, or is it a ball? It seems to come forward. What that does visually is it pushes the entire canvas up and forward in the back and really denies any kind of spatial depth. Rachel: [1:30] It then completes the circle around the painting by bringing your attention back to the foreground that you’ve been tipped back into. And also because the subject of that painting that we see a little bit of in the background is facing back towards us. And we have the fruit on the floor maybe, which is connected back to the fruit on the table in the foreground. [0:00] So it does make the composition complete. Dr. Harris: [1:56] Is everything shifting slightly? The cupid figure, as you said, seems to twist, or Cézanne exaggerates that twist. The figure in the back that’s part of a painting, I presume… Dr. Zucker: [0:00] That’s rendered, right. Dr. Harris: [2:07] …seems to be moving. If you look closely at the outlines of the fruit, they seem to slightly shift. Nothing seems to be stable. Everything is in flux. Dr. Zucker: [2:15] What kind of intentionality is in back of this? Why in the world would Cézanne want to do such a thing? It’s such a complicated and problematic rendering and space. There are alignments that make it even more quirky. For instance, if that’s an onion, a very large onion bulb in the lower left just in back of the putti’s feet, the skin of the onion seems to end and the green starts just at the line where we see the floor. That line continues up and picks up the opposite hip of the putti. Then the groin picks up the edge again of the canvas. [2:56] There’s this whole series of almost Degas-like intersections that play fast and loose with our expectations of space. Rachel: [2:59] Which clearly points out that it’s not that Cézanne didn’t know what he was doing by mixing all these points of view and twisting everything around. It was a conscious artistic choice. This is still a carefully composed image, even though it’s not necessarily how we traditionally think of a still life. Dr. Zucker: [3:15] For instance, the table being at the angle of the foot that comes towards us. But I’m seeing as the hips turn, in a sense, space turning as well as defined by the canvas in back of it. Then is it possible that the face is aligned even with the canvas in back of that, so that the reality is constructed by the figure within it? Dr. Harris: [3:36] Is Cézanne trying to capture a fleeting moment? He’s not interested in representing things exactly as they appear. Instead, he's attempting to convey an emotional response to what he sees. The artist’s emphasis on the underlying structure of objects and formal qualities of art is a hallmark of his work. [0:00] Cézanne’s artistic style is characterized by his repetitive, exploratory brushstrokes and the use of planes of color to build complex fields. His paintings convey an intense study of the subjects, as evident in “Still Life with Plaster Cupid.” The artist's emphasis on the underlying structure of objects and formal qualities of art is a hallmark of his work. ## The Composition The painting features a still life arrangement with a plaster statue of a baby or child, possibly a cupid figure, placed on a table. The statue is surrounded by various fruits such as apples and oranges, creating a sense of depth and balance within the composition. A chair can be seen in the background, while a bench is located on the right side of the image. ## Artistic Style Cézanne’s artistic style is characterized by his repetitive, exploratory brushstrokes and the use of planes of color to build complex fields. His paintings convey an intense study of the subjects, as evident in “Still Life with Plaster Cupid.” The artist's emphasis on the underlying structure of objects and formal qualities of art is a hallmark of his work. ## Influence and Legacy Paul Cézanne’s influence on modern art is profound. His work was initially met with incomprehension and ridicule, but it eventually gained recognition through fellow artists like Camille Pissarro and the art dealer Ambroise Vollard. The first solo exhibition of his work in 1895 at Vollard's Paris gallery marked a turning point in his career. Both Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso have acknowledged Cézanne as “the father of us all,” highlighting his significant impact on avant-garde movements. His innovative approach to representation and emphasis on structure paved the way for Cubism, influencing generations of artists to come. ## Relevance at WahooArt At WahooArt, we offer high-quality, handmade oil painting reproductions of famous artworks, including those by Paul Cézanne. Our collection includes a reproduction of “Still Life with Plaster Cupid,” allowing art enthusiasts to own a piece of history. ## Additional Resources For more information on Paul Cézanne and his works, visit the Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Brescia, Italy. This museum features an impressive collection of modern and contemporary art, including works by renowned artists like Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne. To explore more about the artist’s life and contributions, refer to his biography on Wikipedia. ## Conclusion “Still Life with Plaster Cupid” by Paul Cézanne is a masterpiece that showcases the artist's unique style and influence on modern art. Through his innovative approach to representation and emphasis on structure, Cézanne paved the way for Cubism and left an indelible mark on the art world.