Madame Cézanne - Hardcover

Amory, Dita

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300208103 ISBN 13: 9780300208108

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014

Synopsis

A new account of Cézanne’s complex relationship with his wife, who served as the subject of some of his most iconic portraits

Paul Cézanne’s (1839–1906) portraits of Hortense Fiquet (1850–1922), his wife and the subject of some of his iconic portraits, rank among the most powerful of their kind in French modernism. Yet, posterity has not been kind to Madame Cézanne. She was called a distraction, blamed for her husband’s “lackluster” landscapes, and disdained for her impenetrable expression in the paintings. The reality is more complex, for while Fiquet may not have been the passion of Cézanne’s lifetime, she was a willing accomplice, as model, mother of his only son, and unwavering partner against all odds.

Madame Cézanne examines this unique relationship as it looks at Cézanne the painter, draftsman, and portraitist. Featuring 24 of Cézanne’s oil portraits of Fiquet and most of the known drawings, Madame Cézanne both reevaluates, with insight and compassion, the long-held misconceptions about the Cézannes’ unconventional marriage, and shows how Cézanne’s portraits of his wife provide a lens through which to better understand his overall technique.

About this title

Book Description:

This intriguing account delves into Cézanne’s complex relationship with Hortense Fiquet, his model and wife, who served as the subject of some of his iconic portraits.

About the Author:

Dita Amory is acting associate curator-in-charge, Robert Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 

About this edition

• Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0300208103
• ISBN 13: 9780300208108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240