Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine
| Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine | |
|---|---|
| Artist | Paul Cézanne |
| Year | c. 1887 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 67 cm × 92 cm (26 in × 36 in) |
| Location | Courtauld Gallery, London |
Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine is an oil on canvas painting executed ca. 1887 by the French artist Paul Cézanne. It is owned by the Courtauld Institute of Art and on display in the Gallery at Somerset House. It belongs to a series of oil paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire that Cézanne painted throughout his career.[1]
Description
The subject of the painting is the Montagne Sainte-Victoire in Provence in southern France. Cézanne spent a lot of time in Aix-en-Provence at the time, and developed a special relationship with the landscape.
In a letter to his friend Émile Zola, written on 14 April 1878, Cézanne described Mont Sainte-Victoire, as seen from the window of the train running from Aix to Marseille as follows: "What a beautiful motif."[2] This letter was written about six months after the opening of the railway line. Around this time, at the age of thirty-nine, Cézanne finally began a series of paintings devoted to Mont Sainte-Victoire in his hometown—a subject he had never depicted before. Therefore, it is highly probable that Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire series was inspired by the scenery viewed from the window of the moving train. [3]
This painting represents the Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from Montbriand in Aix-en-Provence. In the center on the right side of this picture s the railway bridge on the Aix-Marseille line at the Arc River Valley.[4]
Posterity
This Cézanne landscape can be seen through the windows of the triptych Une affaire de pommes n°2 (Cézanne)[5] painted by Herman Braun-Vega in 1970[6] to celebrate Cézanne's role as the "creative father" of certain artistic movements.[7]
See also
- List of paintings by Paul Cézanne
- Tomoki Akimaru, Cézanne and the Railway (1) – (7): A Transformation of Vision in the 19th Century, Art Critique+, AICA Japan, 21 April 2025.
References
- ^ "A&A | Montagne Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine". artandarchitecture.org.uk. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
- ^ Paul Cézanne, Correspondance, recueillie, annotée et préfacée par John Rewald, nouvelle édition révisée et augmentée, Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1978, p. 165.
- ^ Tomoki Akimaru, "Cézanne and the Railway (1): The Hidden Origin of Modern Vision", Art Critique+, AICA Japan, 6 September 2024.
- ^ Tomoki Akimaru, "Cézanne and the Railway (3): His Railway Subject in Aix-en-Provence", Art Critique+, AICA Japan, 6 September 2024.
- ^ Braun-Vega, Herman (1970). "Une affaire de pommes n°2 (Cézanne)". braunvega.com (Triptych - 200 x 200 cm x 3 - Acrylic on canvas). Retrieved 30 March 2025.
- ^ Henry, Pierre (7 November 1989). "Rétrospective d'Herman Braun-Vega (1950-89) : Comment un peintre convoque dans son tableau quelque chose de plus que la peinture" [How a painter puts in his painting something more than paint.]. La Voix du Nord (in French).
En 1970, [...] on voit le tableau devenir un lieu d'étude et de questionnement. [...] Ce questionnement s'exerce à propos de Cézanne. La composition est panoramique. On aperçoit de gauche à droite trois fenêtres dont deux sont ouvertes et dans l'espace desquelles se fait admirer le paysage provençal tel que le peignait le maître.
[In 1970, [...] the painting became a place of study and questioning. [...] This questioning concerned Cézanne. The composition is panoramic. From left to right we see three windows, two of which are open, showing the Provençal landscape as painted by the master.] - ^ "Herman Braun". Les Nouvelles Littéraires: 14. 7 January 1974.
Sources
- Tomoki Akimaru, "Cézanne and the Railway (1) – (7)", Art Critique+, AICA Japan, 21 April 2025.