Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)
Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair
INV-6237
Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)1888–90
Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair
Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906) →Post-Impressionism19th centuryoil on canvasfrench
Date
1888–90
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
80.9 × 64.9 cm (31 13/16 × 25 9/16 in.); Framed: 106.7 × 90.2 × 11.2 cm (42 × 35 1/2 × 4 3/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Wilson L. Mead Fund
This portrait is one in a series of four Paul Cezanne made of his wife, Emélie-Hortense Fiquet, whom he met when she worked as an artist’s model. They had a son together in 1872 and married in 1886. Technical examination suggests that Cezanne traced this image, the second in the series, from the first portrait, which he made from life. In contrast to her masklike expression, Hortense’s hands are agitated, contorted by crisscrossing brushstrokes and the dark-blue outlines Cezanne used to sketch out the forms, which remain visible in the final work.
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