Cézanne "The Bather"

From: The Museum of Modern Art
Limited Edition: 23
Exhibition: The Museum of Modern Art Grand Reopening
Material: Printed vinyl
Dimensions: 35" x 96" (88cm x 243cm)

Hanging Hardware Included

Summary

Also from New York's Museum of Modern Art, 23 banners are in stock featuring Paul Cézanne's "The Bather". The painting is a seminal work of Cézanne's that laid the groundwork for much of what was to come in modern painting. To grasp just how far ahead of his time he was, "The Bather" was painted in 1885, 15 years before Pablo Picasso entered his Blue Period, and 20 years before Picasso's first Cubist works.

Description

Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906) is often considered the father of modern painting. He bridges the time between the emergence of the French Impressionists and the later explorations of Fauves, Cubists and even Abstract painters. This banner features a painting from the latter part of his long career, The Bather from 1885. During this phase of his career, he lived alone in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, and his subjects revolved largely around still lifes, views of nearby Mont Sainte-Victoire, and studies of bathers. As such, the work shown on this banner is one of his seminal pieces.

In The Bather Cézanne has depicted a simple scene of a lone figure, yet the solidity of the figure makes the subject almost monumental. With strong volumes and muted colors, Cézanne has created a naturalistic setting for the figure although constructed by the artist in his studio. There is a sense of introspection and solemnity in the figure's pose and gaze which makes him seem at once connected to and disconnected from the larger world. Despite the flatness created by the solid outline of the figure, Cézanne has managed to create a figure that has volume and seems statuesque. These seemingly dissimilar qualities give the artwork a timeless and powerful quality.

One of the most fascinating ongoing projects at American museums today is the Nazi-Era Provenance Project. "Provenance" refers to where an object came from, and its trail of ownership. 144 museums, in conjunction with the American Association of Museums, are actively researching and verifying the provenance of any objects in their collections that might have been misappropriated by the Nazis during World War II. Thus, any objects that were acquired by U.S. museums between 1933 and 1945 and may have changed hands in continental Europe during that time are being investigated. This important project is unprecedented in its scope and the openness of the participating institutions. Cézanne's The Bather is included in this ongoing research. Records indicate that the work was in a New York collection from 1916-1934, and then was gifted to The Museum of Modern Art in 1934. For more information on the Nazi-Era Provenance Project, see the project's website.

Both sides of this banner are identical.. Above the image is a deep red band with the museum's initials "MoMA" in white text. Below the image is another deep red band with additional white text that reads "The Museum of Modern Art/reopens November 20, 2004". The logo and name of the sponsor "JP MorganChase" is included at the bottom of the banner. The entire banner is framed by a white border.

Provenance

These banners were displayed around Manhattan to promote The Museum of Modern Art's grand reopening in New York City in 2004. The museum's expansion was designed by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi who was selected after an extensive search, and whose design doubled the museum's size to 630,000 square feet. Other banners promoting the reopening feature a stainless steel ball-bearing by Swedish designer Sven Wingquist, and de Chirico's Song of Love

 

About the Artist

Learn more about Paul Cézanne