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Gallery Text

Cézanne’s fascination with the complexities of human perception and his desire to transcribe the abstract properties of vision established him as the central figure linking nineteenth-century impressionism with early twentieth-century cubism. Study of Trees exemplifies the problem of dynamically depicting depth on the flat space of a canvas, which occupied the artist for most of his career. Energetically applied diagonal brushstrokes slice the space of the picture, producing the suggestion of movement in and out of depth, and dashed lines define the tree trunks on either side of a winding country road. Remarkably, the rough, unpainted areas of the canvas seem as animated as the daubs of paint flickering across the picture’s surface like leaves in shifting sunlight. At the time of its making, Study of Trees was at the vanguard of intellectualized, abstract painting.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1998.305
People
Paul Cézanne, French (Aix-en-Provence 1839 - 1906 Aix-en-Provence)
Title
Study of Trees
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Arbres; Winding Road
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1904
Places
Creation Place: Europe, France
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/213825

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1300, Modern and Contemporary Art, Early Modernism
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
64.3 × 48.9 cm (25 5/16 × 19 1/4 in.)
framed: 82 × 66.6 × 4.8 cm (32 5/16 × 26 1/4 × 1 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Ambroise Vollard, Paris.] Estate of Ambroise Vollard. [Paul Pétridès, Paris, 1947], sold; to James Lord, Paris, 1947. [Buchholz Gallery, New York, 1947], sold; to Lois Orswell, Pomfret, Connecticut, 1947, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 1998

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, The Lois Orswell Collection
Accession Year
1998
Object Number
1998.305
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • W. Rubin, ed., Cezanne: the late work: essays, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY, 1977), p. 277, pl. 74, color repro.
  • John Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cezanne: A Catalogue Raisonné, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (New York, NY, 1996), pp. 524-5, no. 889, repro. p. 525
  • Marjorie B. Cohn and Sarah Kianovsky, Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 2002), cat. no. 20, fig. 25, pp. 56-59, 306, 374
  • Jodi Hauptman and Samantha Friedman, ed., Cézanne Drawings, exh. cat., The Museum of Modern Art (New York, 2021), pl. 166, pp. 140, 212

Exhibition History

  • [Benefit exhibition for the Boston Arts Festival], Margaret Brown Gallery, Boston, 05/08/1956 - 05/29/1956
  • Lois Orswell, David Smith, and Modern Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/21/2002 - 02/16/2003
  • Re-View: S118 European & American Art since 1900, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 09/13/2008 - 04/09/2011
  • Re-View: European and American Art Since 1900, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/03/2011 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1300 Early Modernism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/12/2021; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/08/2021 - 01/01/2050
  • Cézanne Drawings, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 06/06/2021 - 09/25/2021

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu