Terracotta Pots and Flowers

In the cold Parisian winters, Cézanne would paint in the greenhouse to keep warm. His studio was filled with assorted objects that he drew upon when needed, creating endless combinations from a small and simple repertoire in which to craft his still lives. An austere water pitcher, an old rum bottle with straw bindings, a tattered red cloth -  household objects which when placed against the plants in the greenhouse become works of contemplative beauty. Cézanne’s still lives can be understood as partial portraits of himself, revealing not only in the explicit clues they give us about his residence or living situation, but in the implicit form of the objects. The way leaves on the plants fall, the plumpness of the petals, the drape of the cloth; Cézanne was rigorous and particular about what he painted and when, and there are clues as to his state of mind in each brushstroke. When this works as painted, the artist was retreating from his impressionist contemporaries, and struggling with ill-health in the winter months. There is hopefulness in the plant life depicted, but a coolness of light pervades as if with the ambiguity of a future.