Cezanne Sketchbook
c. 1877/1900
Medium
sketchbook with 71 drawings in graphite, pen and brown ink, and watercolor; the sketchbook contains 46 sheets, several which are blank; the end papers, the recto of the first page, and half the verso of the final page were used for notes, lists, and arithmetical figuring; a draft of a letter to the critic Octave Mirbeau is on page II (recto)
Dimensions
page size: 15.2 x 23.7 cm (6 x 9 5/16 in.)
Classification
Volume
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art
Accession Number
1992.51.9.a-zz
Art Historical Context
Paul Cézanne’s sketchbook, dating from 1877 to 1900, offers a rare glimpse into the working life of one of the most influential artists of the late nineteenth century. Measuring just 15.2 by 23.7 centimeters, this portable volume contains 71 drawings executed in graphite, pen and brown ink, and watercolor across 46 sheets. Several pages remain blank, while the endpapers and margins hold practical notes, lists, and arithmetic calculations, revealing how the artist used the book as both a creative and everyday companion. Among its most intriguing features is a draft letter to the critic Octave ...
About the Artist
Paul Cezanne · 1839–1906
Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), born in Aix-en-Provence to a prosperous banker father, Louis-Auguste, and mother Anne-Elisabeth-Honorine Aubert, grew up in a bourgeois family that later acquired the Jas de Bouffan estate, where he painted his earliest murals. As a youth, he formed the inseparable trio "Les Trois Inséparables" with schoolmates Émile Zola and Baptistin Baille. Despite his father's wishes ...