THE NASAL CEZANNE

This document contains notes which have been prepared for a pair of journal
articles exploring the fanciful nasal adornments which are present in Cezannes
portraits and figure compositions.


The material for the first paper, an essay which addresses the paintings in the
first two decades of the artists career from eighteen sixty to eighteen eighty
is comprised of excerpts from earlier writings on the subject.


The material for the second paper was recently prepared, and although the
presentation is rudimentary, the discussion is more fully developed, and there
is at least a semblance of a narrative progression.


Links have been provided at the conclusion of each of the entries, and in work-
ing with reproductions at Wikipaintings and at Athenaeum, the reader should
click on the images before enlarging them with the plus key.


(In working with reproductions at the Google Art Project, he or she should em-
ploy the diminutive image on the right side or the screen, enlarging with the
plus icon and focusing with the superimposed framing rectangle.)


The prints in the companion document have been produced from digital files
which have been downloaded from the internet, and they will eventually have
to be replaced by details of the heads prepared by the owners of the paintings.


The schematic diagrams in the same collection are intended to indicate the loca-
tions of the phenomena which have been referenced in the text and will assist
the reader in identifying those occasionally fugitive conceptions. (05/14)























ESSAY ONE
























FIGURE 1. MALE PORTRAIT, 1862-64. 46 X 37 CM. REWALD 073. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



We will commence this discussion of the nasal representations in Cezannes
painting with a portrait of an unidentified man which the artist executed in his
early twenties, but before turning to and inspecting the subjects nose, we will
take a moment and examine the eye on the right side of the countenance, en-
countering in doing so an excellent example of the painters discursive
inclinations and fanciful enthusiasms. We will find, in fact, that the impartation
of the pupil in the middle of the representation is uncommonly detailed and
involved, and as we contemplate the right side of the image at some further
length, we will discover that it has been converted into the figure of a diminu-
tive male face, the features of which a pair of eyes in the darker inflections
across the upper portion of the form, a sizable nose in the infrajacent arrange-
ment of lighter color, and an expressively parted mouth immediately above the
border of the image along its base are eminently visible. As we proceed to
the immediate left, we will even discern the intimation of a second such fanciful



visage appreciably smaller than its predecessor and apparently accoutered
with a hat in the white of the eye in the corner of the representation, a con-
struction which will alert us to the existence of the visual acuity with which we
will be required to contend when we turn to and address the artists painting in
earnest. Inasmuch as the image in the reproduction is significantly larger than
life size, it should be apparent that Cezanne was possessed of an extraordinary
perception, that he was employing some manner of pointed implement in artic-
ulating the likes of these ocular adornments, and in any event, we can expect to
encounter similar fanciful minutiae in the impartations of the eyes in the
vicinity of the nasal organs which we will be addressing in almost all of the
paintings which we will be examining.


Having established the existence of the discursive inclination and the fanciful
enthusiasm which will be of interest to us in the course of our discussion, we
will proceed down and across the picture plane, and we will look to and con-
sider the nose in the middle of the subjects countenance, an image which, as it
turns out, is as nuanced as the ones which we encountered in the representation
of the suprajacent eye. As we examine the highlighted flesh in the middle of
the organ, we will find that there are some horizontal inflections of darker pig-
ment amongst the predominantly lighter color and vertical brushstrokes in that
quarter, and we will discover, as we proceed with our inspection of those in-
gredients, that the upper set of inflections would designate a pair of eyes and
that the remaining, and underlying, punctuation would describe the figure of a
complementary mouth. When we effect a closer inspection of the former set of
ingredients, we will observe that the brushwork is uncommonly detailed and
involved in and about those images, and we will distinguish, in fact, the irises
and the circumscribing whites of the eyes in each of the carefully articulated
representations. As we follow the infrajacent disjunction in the color down the
picture plane, we will encounter the figure of an appropriately highlighted nose
between, and beneath, the inclined pair of eyes, and proceeding lower, we will
identify the image of a sizable mouth, with an ungainly set of protuberant teeth,
in the aforeferenced third of the horizontal inflections in which we are interest-
ed. When we effect a more abstracted consideration of the particulars, we will
discern the intimation of a rudimentary headpiece around the bridge of the sub-
jects nose, we will apprehend the suggestion of what would seem to be the top



of an associated garment perhaps a dress in the arrangement of shadow
along the base of the organ, and we might even distinguish an approximation
of an elevated forearm in the anomalous column of lighter color around the fig-
ure of the females chin. in the Although the conception has been subjected to
some subsequent compromising metamorphoses in what would appear to have
been a protracted exercise of imaginative disportation, the succeeding activity
was sufficiently discreetly imparted that the primary construction has remained
reasonably intact, and we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of
the image for the moment, discerning in the representation some compelling
evidence of the fanciful divertissement in which the artist would indulge in the
painting of his formative years.



http://uploads7.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/portrait-of-a-man-1864-
1.jpg































FIGURE 2 MALE FIGURE, C. 1867. 107 X 83 CM. REWALD 120. MUSEU DE
ARTE, SAO PAULO. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



During the course of his sojourns in Paris in the eighteen sixties, Cezanne fre-
quented a studio where he could practice drawing the human figure, and the
character in the present canvas was supposed to have been the most popular of
the models who posed at the facility. Inasmuch as the painting is sizable, and
in light of the fact that the image of the head is of modest dimension, the ac-
companying reproduction will prove to be inadequate, and until a detail can be
acquired from the museum which possesses the canvas, we will want to occa-
sionally refer to and to inspect the print in the lower right corner. As we
ponder the representation of the subjects nose endeavoring, of course, to
creatively navigate the obfuscating graininess and pixilation we will en-
counter some intriguing details in and about the lobe along the base of the
organ on the left, and we will discover, as we proceed with our inspection of
the particulars, that the artist has digressed from the objective exercise and in-
troduced the head of a diminutive masculine character in that portion of the



image. The compartment of illuminated flesh would constitute a reasonable
approximation of a low-crowned and modestly-brimmed hat, and as we turn to
and consider the underlying arrangement of variegated color, we will identify
the eyes, nose and mouth of a complementary visage in the vicinity of the ex-
posed nostril. The left side of the image has been depicted, of course, in
shadow, the other side has been described in light from an implied source of
illumination off to the right, and we will discover that the representational ap-
paratus in question imparting the human figure in a variably, and typically
laterally, illuminated manner would be a mechanism which the artist
would employ on numerous occasions in his frequent deviations into fanciful
divertissement. In fact, as we proceed to the immediate left and examine the
detailed brushwork in and about the corner of the mouth, we will encounter the
rudiments of another such whimsical conception, more allusively imparted
than its nasal counterpart, along the base of the upper lip, one of the many such
fanciful interpolations which are present in the representation of the subjects
focal head.



As we withdraw from the reproduction and endeavor to effect a more abstract-
ed consideration of the countenance, we will find that there are some equally
intriguing details in the shadow beneath the eye, a shadow which has obscured,
and ultimately even disfigured, the image of the underlying nose. In fact, the
artist has appropriated the crescent of darker color in that quarter and em-
ployed it as what would appear to have been the brim of a rudimentary hat,
and as we look to the infrajacent arrangement of intermediate color, we will en-
counter the eyes, nose, and mouth of an associated masculine countenance, As
we ponder the character of the subordinate construction in the print in the cor-
ner of the reproduction, we will appreciate some of the subtleties of the
representation the poetic evocation of the illumination, for instance, in the
highlights upon the nose and along the margin of the cheek on the right, and
the appealing conformation of a countenance which features a conspicuous,
and apparently smiling, mouth along its base and we will recognize the
disparity which exists between the ethoses of the respective objective and sub-
jective representations. Although the subjects in these paintings are typically
devoid of expression and unquestionably, as such, bereft of personality



it is interesting to encounter intimations of an aesthetic propensity and a predi-
lection for, dare we say it, artistic charm in representations such as the
dexterously imparted countenance across the figure of the models nose. As we
proceed with this investigation of the nasal adornments which are present in
Cezannes oeuvre, we will find that the artist would characteristically adapt
and transform the components around the ophthalmic representations
sometimes, as in the present instance, employing them as rudimentary hats
and that he would embellish the proximate noses with all manner of colorful
secondary constructions, a disportation which would occasionally devolve into
what might accurately be characterized as pyrotechnic displays of fanciful in-
vention.



http://uploads4.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/the-negro-scipio-
1867.jpg































FIGURE 3. PORTRAIT HEADS, C. 1870. 71 X 57 CM. REWALD 155. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In the third of the canvases which we will consider in this sequence, a study of
a pair of heads which Cezanne painted on a wall of the salon in the familys
country residence in Provence, we will examine another, and unquestionably
more sophisticated, example of the fanciful metamorphoses of the nasal organs
which are present in these youthful pictures. If, in our inspection of the previ-
ous two paintings, we encountered conceptions which featured images of the
human face, we will, in addressing the present canvas , turn to and consider a
representation of the full human figure in these colorful adaptations and
adornments of the subjects focal noses. We will find, as we examine the coun-
tenance of the masculine character on the left, that the artist has converted the
nasal organ into an involved and even convoluted fanciful construction the
objective image has been so disfigured, in fact, that it is only marginally recog-
nizable as a nose and we will take a moment and consider the
characteristics of that secondary conception at some further length. We will, by



way of introduction, encounter the intimation of a high crowned hat in and
about the bridge of the subjects nose, an accouterment which, as a consequence
of its variably colored complexion, would establish the fact that the source of
illumination is from off to the left side of the figure with which we will concern
ourselves.



As we look to the infrajacent arrangement of inflected color, we will distinguish
the images of a pair of delicately imparted eyes immediately beneath the brim
of the headpiece, and moving lower, we will identify the figure of a typically
highlighted, and implicitly protuberant, nose in the punctuation of lighter pig-
ment in the middle of the emerging visage. Proceeding further down the
picture plane, we will encounter the intimation of a complementary mouth, fea-
turing a pair of conspicuously parted lips, across the lower half of the
countenance, and as we ponder the conformation of the underlying jaw and
chin, we will appreciate that the character is sporting some manner of modestly
dimensioned beard. Although the individual in question would appear to be a
rustic, the illumination is so nuanced, the features of the visage so delicate, and
the evocation of the form so poetic that the conception would have to be charac-
terized as a sympathetic, if not even a charming, one. We will encounter the
intimations of a pair of upper arms along either side of the infrajacent, and pre-
dominantly obscured, torso a highlighted right arm on the left, and a
featureless left arm in the shadow on the right and we will identify what
would appear to be the forearm and hand of the latter limb across the midsec-
tion of the seated, and unquestionably compacted, character. If that is an
accurate reading of the representation, the forearm and hand in question would
obscure the elbow of the companion limb on the left side of the body, a limb
which would seem to reappear, in the images of a parallel forearm and hand, in
the underlying configuration of lighter color along the base of the subjects
nose.



The inclined column of illuminated flesh around the tip of the nasal organ
might be perceived to represent a portion of a conjoined hip and thigh, and the



abbreviated compartment of darker color along the back of the proximate lobe
would appear to constitute the figure of a second, and complementary, thigh on
the other side of the compacted form. As we look to and examine the image of
the lower of the pair of forearms along the base of the representation, we will
discover, moreover, that the diminutive character appears to hold a glass in his
hand and may have been depicted in the act of ingesting some refreshment, an
affectation which has been imparted, of course, with a poetry and with a charm
which have not normally been associated with the artist. Although, in the in-
terest of brevity, we will be ignoring the majority of these sophisticated and
occasionally, yes, convoluted constructions in the course of our introducto-
ry discussion, we should be aware that such conceptions are present in the
images of the noses in the artists portraits and figure studies and that they con-
stitute some of the more intriguing phenomena which have been couched in the
representations of the subjects focal heads in those paintings.



There are some days, the artist confided to an associate, when it seems to me
that the universe is nothing but a continuous steam, a river of aerial reflections
around the idea of man. The character in the middle of the countenance under
present consideration might be construed to be a portion of that river of aerial
reflections, the figure of an individual in a corner of quiescence and enchant-
ment in an anthropocentric cosmos, with the idea of man writ large and
buoyantly upon the face of a background escarpment.




http://uploads6.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/constrats-1870.jpg


















FIGURE 4. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1870. 46 X 38 CM. REWALD 176. NA-
TIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA, OTTAWA. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In the present picture, a study of one of the artists youthful associates, a person
of whom Cezanne would paint in a more ambitious portrait at a later juncture
(Figure 6), we will consider another of the nasal adornments which are present
in these canvases, and we will, in the process, explore the manner in which the
secondary constructions in these paintings would occasionally be subjected to
subsequent compromising metamorphoses. Recalling the approach which we
employed advantageously in addressing the initial picture in this sequence, we
will take a moment, however, and effect a preliminary inspection of the iris of
the eye on the right side of the countenance. In an effort to facilitate our exami-
nation of the image, we will want to significantly enlarge the reproduction, and
after having done so, we will observe that the contour along the left side of the
orb is irregular and that there is an arrangement of darker inflections on the
immediate right, across the interior of the involved and curiously imparted
conception. We will find, of course, that the artist has whimsically adorned the



image, introducing the figure of a hat along the top of the representation and
delineating the features of a dexterously illuminated male countenance
with a highlighted nose and with a smiling, and dentally inflected, mouth
across its midsection. The diminutive construction is similar to the one which
we encountered in the aforeferenced seminal portrait, and like its predecessor,
it would indicate the presence of the discursive inclinations and the fanciful en-
thusiasms which continued to animate this art a decade after the execution of
the earlier painting.



As we return the reproduction to its original dimensions and as we look to and
inspect the figure of the subjects highlighted nose, we will encounter the fea-
tures of a casually imparted and loosely conformed male countenance in the
mottled color across the middle of the image, and as we proceed down the pic-
ture plane, we will even discern the suggestion of an elevated left forearm in
the complementary components of the representation across the base of the or-
gan. Recalling the affectation which the artist had employed in decorating the
nose in the previous canvas, we will find, as we ponder the configuration of
lighter color above the figure of the contracted hand, that the character is hold-
ing some manner of illuminated implement, what would appear to be another
glass which has been elevated, appropriately, to the vicinity of his proximate
mouth The ellipses of darker pigment beneath the bridge of the subjects nose
would designate a pair of eyes, the lighter pigment between and below those
ophthalmic images would represent an associated nose, and the muted inflec-
tions of intermediate color further down the picture plane would describe the
figure of a mouth above the image of a substantial, if imperfectly imparted,
chin. As it turns out, the representation has been compromised by some subse-
quent fanciful metamorphoses of the conception accounting, of course, for
the abundance of complicating detail in and about the middle of the counte-
nance and the requirement is to see beyond the successive, and inevitably
obfuscating, draftsmanship to the features of the original construction, a re-
quirement which will prove to be more readily accomplished in the present
context than in some of the others which we will shortly be contending.






The figure would appear to have been equipped, of course, with some manner
of close-fitting hat visible in the crescent of lighter pigment above the fore-
head and across the top of the pate but we will find that the accouterment
has been obscured the column of lighter pigment which has subsequently been
applied to the representation in the vicinity of the bridge of the nose. As we in-
cline our heads to the right and as we contemplate the arrangement of
intermediate color along the flank of the nasal organ, we will discover, in fact,
that the artist has appropriated the eye in the vertical conception, employed it
in a similar capacity in a diagonal variation, and ultimately evoked the figure of
a comely female face in that quarter of the representation, the disruptive cres-
cent of lighter pigment around the bridge of the subjects nose designating the
brim of an associated headpiece. Although the middle of the countenance in
the tertiary construction has been obscured by an incongruous brushstroke of
intermediate color potentially, of course, applied with the intention of cam-
ouflaging the perhaps too conspicuous image the representation of the
comely female visage remains reasonably accessible and would constitute an
intriguing efflorescence of beauty in an oeuvre which is not customarily associ-
ated with such indulgent phenomena. In any event, despite the presence of the
colorfully disposed masculine character along the vertical axis of the organ and
the existence of the enchanting female visage along its flank, the nose is more
important for indicating the compromises which we will encounter in navi-
gating the multiple layers of fanciful invention in these paintings than it is for
documenting the artists persisting indulgence in imaginative disportation in
the execution of these canvases.



http://uploads8.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/portrait-of-gustave-
boyer.jpg

















FIGURE 5. ALEXIS AND ZOLA, 1869-70. 130 X 160 CM. REWALD 151. MU-
SEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (MUSEUM PHOTO)



Although in each of the previous couple of paintings we encountered adapta-
tions of the noses which were conveniently positioned within the confines of
those representations, we discovered, in inspecting the study of a seated male
figure in the second canvas in this sequence, that the artist would occasionally
effect more extensive metamorphoses of the nasal images in these pictures. In
an effort to consider an analogous adaptation of the nose in a portrait from his
early thirties and as a means of addressing another of the laterally illumi-
nated constructions which abound in these canvases we will turn to and
examine a study of a pair of Cezannes associates, the individual on the right
the soulful friend with whom he had so touchingly shared his youth in Pro-
vence. As it turns out, the painting is in the collection of the same museum as
the aforementioned study of a seated male model, and the issue which we en-
countered with the fidelity of the reproduction in our perusal of the earlier
picture is one which we will experience again in our inspection of this slightly



later, and appreciably more sizable, canvas. In light of that fact, we will want to
occasionally refer to and to employ the modestly dimensioned print in the cor-
ner of the reproduction, and we will discover, as we do so, that the artist has
inflected the representation of the ocular orbit on the right side of the subjects
countenance and converted it into the figure of a diagonally aligned, moderate-
ly animated, and colorfully hatted male head. The referenced adornment of the
objective particulars is, of course, representative of the fanciful metamorphoses
and of the cognate imaginative minutiae which are present in these can-
vases, and although we will typically be ignoring such extra-nasal phenomena
in the course of the current discussion, we would do well to be apprised of the
existence of those expressions of fancy in and about the representations of the
subjects focal noses in the artists many portraits and figure compositions.



As we proceed down the picture plane, we will observe that there is a curiously
abrupt disjunction in the color along the margin of the shadow next to the sub-
jects nose, and we will discover that the chromatic dissociation in question
becomes progressively more detailed and involved in and about the lobe of the
nasal organ at its base. As we effect a more abstracted consideration of the par-
ticulars, we will remark, moreover, that the contour along the opposite side of
the columnar arrangement of shadow has been picked up and continued in the
analogous, if less pronounced, disjunction in the color across the middle of the
subjects cheek, the composite linear progression circumscribing an irregular
configuration of variegated pigment beneath the image of the overhead, and
fancifully inflected, eye. In fact, the accents around the base of the bipartite ar-
rangement would describe the figure of a conspicuous mouth, the suprajacent
protrusion in the contour of the lighter color would represent an associated
nose, and the punctuations of darker pigment further up the picture plane,
along either side of the latter image, would designate the eyes of the dexterous-
ly imparted, moderately inclined, and laterally illuminated male countenance.
In the course of our discussion of the earlier study of a seated model, it was
commented that the eye sockets in these representations would occasionally be
employed as hats in the fanciful constructions which we are investigating, and
as we turn to and consider the optical orbit on the right side of the subjects vis-
age, we will discover, in fact, that it would function as precisely such an



accoutrement along the top of the poetically imparted countenance which we
have identified. If we had the time and the inclination not to mention, of
course, a dedicated photographic detail of the head we could continue with
our inspection of the particulars and proceed to address the kaleidoscopic play
of imaginative phenomena which are present in and about the image of the
nose, but we will, in keeping with the limited objectives of this introductory ex-
position, content ourselves with this limited discussion of the representation for
the moment. It will be apparent, of course, that the complementary apparatus-
es of diagonal orientation and lateral illumination would diminish the visibility,
and moderate the disruptive influence, of the likes of these fanciful construc-
tions, even when, as in the present instance, the conceptions in question have
been conspicuously delineated and are uncommonly accessible. When we
pause and reflect upon the modish inclination of the hat on top of the head,
moreover, we will appreciate that there an intimation of personality, even an
incipient elan, in the artists colorful impartation of the image, qualities which
are conspicuously absent from the evocations of the objective phenomena in his
sedulously constructed canvases.



http://www.masp.art.br/masp2010/acervo_detalheobra.php?id=254


























FIGURE 6. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1871. 55 X 39 CM. REWALD 174. METRO-
POLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO)



In a second portrait of the same youthful associate whom we encountered in
the painting before last, we will find that the noses in these pictures would con-
tinue to provide an inviting framework in which for Cezanne to exercise his
fancy, but before addressing that topic in earnest, we will by way of docu-
menting the presence of the discursive inclinations and the fanciful enthusiasms
which continued to inspire his art consider an unusually conspicuous ex-
ample of the incidental phenomena which we have been investigating along the
left side of the subjects head. As we examine the diminutive print in the corner
of the reproduction, enlarging it as necessary, we will encounter the image of a
carefully articulated female countenance immediately beneath the ear, and as
we ponder the relationship of that visage to the proximate configurations of
light and intermediate color, we will discover that the suprajacent aural organ
would function as a headpiece and that the infrajacent flesh upon the neck has
been fashioned into the figures of an attenuated torso and a pair of kneeling



legs. The ears in these portraits would provide a convenient forum in which for
Cezanne to exercise his fancy, and although we will, of course, be ignoring the
majority of the cognate imaginative conceptions in this discussion the nasal or-
gans in his painting, the kneeling character along the side of the subjects head
would document the existence of the artists discursive inclinations and fanciful
enthusiasms in the conduct of this exercise in portraiture.



As we turn to and consider the subjects nose in the accompanying primary re-
production, we will find that the artist has articulated the figure of another
intriguing fanciful conception in that quarter of the representation, and we will
take a moment and consider the characteristics of that colorful nasal construc-
tion at some modest length We will find, in fact, that there is an elliptical
arrangement of intermediate color in the middle of the organ, and as we inspect
the inflections of darker pigment across the lower two thirds of that configura-
tion, we will identify the figures of a pair of prominent eyes, a highlighted nose,
and a sensitively imparted, and dentally adorned, mouth in that portion of the
representation. The illuminated cheeks will be discerned, moreover, in the cir-
cumscribing compartments of lighter pigment, an ear would appear to have
been delineated along the left side of the visage, and a conically crowned hat
will be distinguished in the darker color immediately above the eyes, the base
of the forehead depicted in the shadow cast by that headpiece. Recalling the
affectations which had been employed in some of the earlier constructions
which we have considered, the underlying striation of darker and lighter colors
might be seen to constitute the elevated forearm and hand of the bust-like char-
acter, the appendage having subsequently been converted, in conjunction with
the contiguous arrangement of lighter color, into the figure of an inclined coun-
tenance around the terminus of the nasal organ. Although the character in
question would appear to be directing some manner of implement toward his
proximately situated mouth a dimension of the representation which is be-
yond the compass of this introductory exposition we will content ourselves
with this abbreviated discussion of the image for the moment, appreciating that
the conception is significantly more accessible than the one which we encoun-
tered in the informal portrait of the same subject in the painting before last.






http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-
collections/435873?rpp=20&pg=1&ao=on&ft=CEZANNE&pos=6











































FIGURE 7. THE ARTISTS WIFE, C. 1872. 22 X 22 CM. REWALD 216. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



As we have observed in inspecting several of the earlier pictures in this se-
quence, the shadows in and about the eyes of the subjects in these canvases
would frequently be converted into fanciful constructions along the sides of, or
even above, the nasal representations which we are investigating, and in the
present painting, a study of the artists significant other suckling their infant
son, we will consider another such ancillary conception which extends onto the
bridge of the females proximate nose. We will want to incline our heads to the
right and to examine the image of the eye on the right side of the countenance,
and as we do so, we will find that the lighter color in the shadow about the base
of the lid would extend the suprajacent arrangement of illuminated flesh, effec-
tively creating lighter and darker halves of a bipartite chromatic configuration
in that quarter. We will discover, of course, on further inspection of the particu-
lars, that the accents of darker color along the right, and shaded, portion of the
arrangement would describe the features of a bearded male countenance, the
eyes visible at the top of the configuration and a conspicuous mouth, beneath



an hirsute upper lip, discernible along its base. The representation is, like so
many others in this oeuvre, laterally illuminated the darker pigment in and
about the base of the eyelid constituting the shaded portion of the image and
the lighter color on the left comprising the highlighted segment of same and
although the reproduction is unquestionably inferior, we should have little dif-
ficulty in transcending the obfuscating pixilation and in discerning the
suggestion of a casually imparted cap along the top of the inclined head.



During the course of his later twenties and early thirties at approximately
the same time that the study under present consideration was executed
Cezanne introduced repeated images of himself into his paintings, most notably,
of course, in his sequential paraphrases of a contemporarys celebrated compo-
sitions. (In fact, as an extension of the referenced practice, he would appear to
have inserted just such an image of his person, considerably more allusively
imparted than its predecessors, into the corner of a landscape which he submit-
ted for inclusion in the initial Impressionist exhibition, a representation in
which he depicted himself performing a corporal function which was typically
reserved for the water closets of the period.) As it turns out, the distinguish-
ing components of the artists physiognomy were a dark and fulsome beard, a
massive face which featured a prominent forehead and, most importantly, a
conspicuously barren pate, and although the images of himself which he insert-
ed into his paintings were imparted with varying degrees of precision, the full
beard, the formidable brow, and the prematurely bald head were the identify-
ing constituents of those personal representations. As we examine the image in
and about the ocular orbit on the right side of the females countenance, we will
find that it would constitute a reasonable approximation of Cezannes distinc-
tive head it is arguably, in fact, a more credible likeness of that head than
many of the others which have been accepted as such in the literature on the
subject and inasmuch as the artist had inserted repeated allusions to himself
into the paintings which he executed during the period, the image may well
have comprised another reference to his person in an art which had come to
feature a significant autobiographic dimension. Although the identity of the
character in question is not particularly important, we will appreciate, as we
reflect upon the conjectured personal reference, that the constructions which we



encountered in the earlier canvases could well have contained similarly discreet,
and ultimately obscure, allusions not, of course, necessarily personal in
character a subject which, in light of the problems which it would present,
we have prudently chosen to avoid in the course of the foregoing discussion.



http://uploads7.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/hortense-breast-
feeding-paul-1872.jpg






































FIGURE 8. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 53 X 38 CM. REWALD 219. HER-
MITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG. (MUSEUM PHOTO)



As we proceed to the painting of the artists middle thirties, we will turn to and
consider one of the many self portraits which Cezanne executed throughout his
career, a representation which possesses more personality than the majority of
the other images of his person and one which, as it turns out, features a delight-
ful example of the colorful nasal constructions which we have been
investigating. We will find, in fact, as we examine the subjects nose, that the
artist has embellished the representation with a carefully articulated, and un-
commonly accessible, fanciful conception, converting the organ into the image
of a buxom female character, the head of which has been adorned with a broad
brimmed and elegantly inclined hat along the top of the construction. The sen-
suously-lipped countenance like so many of its predecessors in this
sequence will be found to be laterally illuminated, a complementary neck
and torso will be discerned in the underlying arrangement of intermediate col-
or, and the figures of a pair of elevated hands might even be distinguished in



the parcels of lighter pigment along either side of the substantial bosom. It is
important for us to appreciate, in pondering the secondary construction, the
poetic character of the conception and the aesthetic quality of its evocation, to
appreciate what we will ultimately recognize to be the striking contrast be-
tween the females expressive countenance and the subjects expressionless
visage, a visage which, like its predecessors in the antecedent portraits, will ul-
timately prove to have been a pretext for the efflorescences of fanciful invention
which are present in these paintings. In fact, there is an artistic facility and an
aesthetic propensity which are evident in the conception and which are con-
spicuously absent from the painters impartations of the phenomena of
objective reality, and it is interesting to reflect upon the fact that, as we contem-
plate the character of the comely creature whom we have identified, that we are
encountering for the first time the vibrant human being beneath the mask-like
facade of Cezannes curiously misconstrued artistic persona. The construction
is unusual, of course, because unlike its siblings in the antecedent paintings, it
has not been subjected to the compromising influence of the subsequent fanci-
ful metamorphoses which we would have expected to have encountered, and it
remains, as such, a compelling example of the imaginative divertissement
which we have been investigating in these pages. It is additionally interesting
because it evinces a levity of disposition and even, dare we say it, a poetry
and a charm which have not traditionally been associated with the artist
and which have, on the other hand, consistently found expression in the color-
ful adornments of the noses which we have been considered in the course of
this introductory discussion.



In the third of the heads which we have addressed in this document one of
a pair of images which were featured in a composition which the artist painted
on a wall of the salon in the familys country residence we encountered the
figure of a seated male character in what seemed to be a remote natural setting,
a gentleman who appeared to be relaxing in what might well have been con-
strued to have been a forbidding alpine environment. In the present canvas, we
have encountered, by way of contrast, the bust of a second diminutive character,
a distinctively accoutered female whose inclined countenance evinces a casual
grace and comeliness, an elegant creature who has been depicted in an envi-



ronment which, in contrast with that of her predecessor, recalls the dappled
pandemonium of a sunlight inflected fluvial setting. Although the pair of con-
structions would initially appear to be curious adornments of the nasal organs
in the representations in which they are ensconced, we would do well to addi-
tionally appreciate them as expressions of human sentiment and as vignettes of
human experience in the continuous stream of which we have heard, the
river of aerial reflections around the idea of man, an anthropocentric cosmos
with images of the human species writ large and buoyantly upon the faces of a
background escarpment and of a dappled fluvial bower.



http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/fcgi-
bin/db2www/fullSize.mac/fullSize?selLang=English&dlViewId=XH$TEHSEOO
DUO-
PYA&size=big&selCateg=picture&dlCategId=GD3FZFVOEPZD+23T8+40&com
eFrom=quick






























FIGURE 9. FEMALE PORTRAIT, 1873-74. 11 X 15 CM. REWALD 230.
STAATLICHE MUSEUM BERGGRUEN, BERLIN. (R/M/N PHOTO)



In the present canvas, a painting sketch of an unidentified young woman, we
will consider another example of the nasal adornments which we have been in-
vestigating, most recently, of course, in one of the finer portraits from the
artists middle thirties. Recalling the approach which we employed in address-
ing several of the earlier pictures, we will take a moment and consider, by way
of introduction, one of the diminutive fanciful constructions which abound in
the painting. We will discover, in fact, as we inspect the image of the mouth
along the base of the reproduction, that the artist has adapted the representa-
tion and transformed it into the figure of a variably illuminated and
ponderously hatted male head. We will find that the inflections of darker color
between the lips would represent a pair of reductionist eyes, and we will identi-
fy the figures of a complementary nose and mouth in the analogous
punctuations of darker pigment along the line of the underlying chromatic dis-
junction. The intermediate color on the left would constitute the shaded half of



the countenance, the lighter pigment on the right would comprise the high-
lighted segment of same, and the suprajacent arrangement of darker color
would designate the shadow beneath the brim of a sizable hat, the crown of the
headpiece present in the modest projection of intermediate pigment in the mid-
dle of the upper lip. Inasmuch as the image in the reproduction is significantly
larger than life size the canvas is, in fact, a mere five-by-six inches we
will appreciate that the construction in question is of uncommonly modest di-
mension, indicating, once again, that the painter was accustomed to expressing
his fancy in something approaching a proto-microscopic manner. In fact, it is
evident that Cezanne was possessed of an extraordinary vision and that, in the
interest of exercising that singular optical faculty, he had employed some man-
ner of pointed implement in articulating the likes of the fanciful construction
which we have identified.



Having documented the existence of the discursive inclination and the fanciful
enthusiasm which had animated the painter in executing at least a portion of
the present canvas, we will want to withdraw from the representation in-
deed, we may find that it is advantageous to reduce the dimensions of the
reproduction and to incline our heads and to consider the mottled color be-
tween the tip of the nose on the left and the base of the eye on the right side of
the countenance. As we do so, we should have little problem in apprehending
the diagonally aligned and allusively imparted image of a sizable male pate in
that quarter of the representation, a construction which, like several of its pre-
decessors in this sequence, is laterally illuminated and dexterously accoutered
with a hat through the agency of the proximate ophthalmic orbit. The inflec-
tions of intermediate pigment beneath the referenced headpiece would
represent, in fact, a pair of conspicuous eyes, and the peculiar crease in the flesh
around the tip of the nose would designate what would appear to be an equally
prominent mouth, an image which dissolves into insignificance in the apparent-
ly intense illumination from off to the right of, and ultimately beneath, the
diagonally aligned conception. The rudimentary construction might be per-
ceived to establish the existence of a curious ethos at the core of Cezannes
painting an ethos which we have compared, of course, to the imprecision
and allusiveness of oriental art and one which is prominently on display in the



emergence of the subjects form from the circumscribing compartments of un-
painted canvas and this will not, in fact, be the final time that we encounter
such fragmentary, light-effaced conceptions in addressing the fanciful adorn-
ments of the noses in these paintings. In light of the cursory, even summary,
manner in which the majority of the painting has been executed, it is curious to
encounter a construction which has been imparted with solicitude and preci-
sion in the midst of such artistic recklessness, and when we are fully apprised
of the character of this multifaceted art, we will realize that the objective repre-
sentations in these canvases are little more than platforms for the successive
deviations into, and immoderate indulgences of, fancy and imagination.



http://www.photo.rmn.fr/cf/htm/CSearchZ.aspx?o=&Total=10&FP=65884105&E
=2K1KTSJFGT8XE&SID=2K1KTSJFGT8XE&New=T&Pic=6&SubE=2C6NU00ZQ
FBE































FIGURE 10. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 64 X 53 CM. REWALD 182. MUSEE
DORSAY, PARIS. (ATHENAEUM PHOTO)



On occasion, we will encounter an uncommon facility in the impartation of the
fanciful phenomena which we are investigating and an unmistakable felicity in
the character of those secondary constructions, and as we turn to and examine
another self portrait from Cezannes middle thirties, we will have an opportuni-
ty to consider one such exemplary nasal conception. We have observed that the
faces and figures which we have been addressing have frequently been defined
in relation to lateral sources of illumination resulting, of course, in lighter
and darker halves of the forms and in inspecting the image of the subjects
focal nose, we will encounter another, and arguably more intriguing, example
of those chromatically sophisticated fanciful constructions. As something of an
introduction to the conceptual apparatus with which we will concern ourselves
and recalling the incremental approach which we employed in addressing
the preceding painting we will commence our inspection of the likeness by
initially examining the representation of the eye on the right side of the counte-



nance. We will find that there is, in fact, a curious line which bisects the config-
uration of lighter color on the right side of the organ, and as we incline our
heads and contemplate the image along the axis of the opposite diagonal, we
will begin to appreciate the rationale for the presence of that line in the repre-
sentation. In fact, the lighter color in the corner would designate the collar of a
foreground garment, the arrangement of more subdued pigment further up the
picture plane would represent the highlighted portion of a countenance, and
the inflections of darker color across the image of the adjacent iris would de-
scribe the eyes, nose and mouth of the laterally illuminated construction. It is
interesting to observe that, in typical fashion, the artist has highlighted the tip
of the nose, and in any event, as we turn to and consider the suprajacent punc-
tuations of darker pigment, we will find that the crescent along the top of the
eye would represent the brim of a sizable hat and that the contiguous arrange-
ment of darker color would designate the crown of that same headpiece.



As we proceed to the immediate left and as we examine the image of the sub-
jects nose, we will encounter a similarly sophisticated and arguably, it
would seem, analogously camouflaged conception in that quarter of the
representation. We will discover, in fact, in inspecting the shadow upon the
right side of the organ, that the artist has introduced some inflections which
would represent the eyes, nose and mouth of another male countenance the
protruding tip of the nose, incidentally, perfunctorily highlighted once again
and when we turn to and consider the suprajacent arrangement of intermediate
color, we will identify the rudiments of a sizable, if loosely conformed, hat on
top of the elongated pate. Inasmuch as the headpiece extends beyond the com-
pass of the columnar shadow in which we have discerned the indicated facial
features, we will realize that the contiguous arrangement of lighter color along
the flank of the nose would constitute the highlighted portion of the counte-
nance, and we will recognize, of course, that the objective representation has
been fashioned into the figure of another handsomely hatted and variably illu-
minated fanciful construction in the middle of the subjects face. In several of
the earlier constructions which we have considered, we encountered the intima-
tions of some complementary torsos and limbs beneath the figures of the focal
countenances, and as we turn to and inspect the convoluted representation



around the tip of the subjects nose, we will find that the light and intermediate
color in that quarter may have been converted into the images of a foreshort-
ened forearm and hand in front of an obscured shoulder on the left. Although
the conception is not nearly as charming and poetic as the one which we en-
countered in the self portrait in the painting before last, the laterally illuminated
construction would indicate the character of the increasingly sophisticated phe-
nomena with which we will concern ourselves in the succeeding pictures, and
we will content ourselves with this limited discussion of the fanciful construc-
tion, and of the canvas in which it is embedded, for the moment.



http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=6055


































FIGURE 11. MALE BATHER, 1877-78. 73 X 60 CM. REWALD 370. PRIVATE
COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/bather-with-
outstreched-arms.jpg























FIGURE 12. SELF PORTRAIT, 1878-79. 34 X 26 CM. REWALD 384. MUSEUM
OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)



https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/self-portrait-in-a-straw-
hat/GAEYFkKAWbLbpA?projectId=art-project



































ESSAY TWO
























FIGURE 1. SELF PORTRAIT, 1879-80. 34 X 25 CM. REWALD 416. OSKAR
REINHART FOUNDATION, WINTERTHUR. (ATHENAEUM PHOTO)



In the initial picture which we will consider in this second paper a painting
which is one of more familiar portraits in the work of the artists forties we
will encounter another of the colorful adornments of the noses which are pre-
sent in Cezannes oeuvre, and as we ponder the characteristics of the
subordinate construction which we will identify, we will appreciate that it is a
transparent example of the fanciful activity which we occupied ourselves in the
antecedent paper. The highlighted flank of the nose, along the left side of the
organ, is the portion of the representation which will interest to us, and as we
inspect the heavily textured paint in that area, we should have little problem in
apprehending the moderately inclined, typically hatted, and laterally illuminat-
ed masculine head which has been delineated in that quarter. We will find, in
fact, that there are a pair of carefully articulated eyes along either side of the
chromatic disjunction in the middle of the arrangement, we will encounter the



figure of a conspicuous nose in the anomalous inflection of lighter pigment on
the left side of that disjunction, and moving lower, we will identify the image of
a complementary mouth in the angled punctuation of intermediate color across
the base of the polygonal configuration The right side of the countenance is, of
course, illuminated, the left side is immersed in shadow, and as we turn to and
consider some of the circumscribing partitions of color, we will identify what
would appear to be the sizable collar of a garment at the base of the arrange-
ment and the figure of a low-crowned hat on top of the inclined head at its
vertex. In fact, in light of the presence of the distinctive accouterments, the
character in question may have been intended to represent a courtier from an
earlier epoch, although, if that were indeed the case, the rationale for such a cu-
rious allusion would unquestionably remain obscure. In several of the
paintings which we considered in the initial paper in this sequence, we encoun-
tered foreground arms along the bases of the bust-like constructions which we
identified, and when we inspect the present conception with those precedents
in mind, we will appreciate that the circumscribed arrangement of darker color
in front of the chin would represent an elevated hand, as though the character
were about to introduce some food into his proximately situated mouth. How-
soever we care to conceive of the latter component of the conceit, the head has
not been subjected to the subsequent compromising metamorphoses which we
have occasionally encountered in these secondary constructions, the image is
reasonably intact and accessible as a consequence, and it is, as such, an appro-
priate point of departure for us as we prepare to examine the accomplished
work of the artists maturity.



http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=6119




















FIGURE 2. SELF PORTRAIT, 1880-81. 34 X 26 CM. REWALD 482. NATION-
AL GALLERY, LONDON. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



Although we have focused primarily upon representations of the human face in
the artists adornments of the noses in his portraits and figure studies, we
should be aware that those interpolations would occasionally feature images of
the full human figure witness, for instance, the seated drinker on the nose
of a mural head in the antecedent paper and in an effort to consider an ex-
ample of another such conception, we will look to and examine a familiar self
portrait from Cezannes middle years. We will want to focus upon the bridge
of the subjects nose and especially, and more specifically, upon the lighter
color on the left side of that organ and as we do so, inclining our heads to
the left, we will identify the figures of a casually imparted and loosely con-
formed hat on the top of the arrangement and the intimation of what might be
perceived to be an elevated forearm and hand in the columnar arrangement of
lighter color further down the picture plane. When we examine the area be-



tween the remarked pair of components, we will apprehend the features of a
laterally illuminated male countenance, the eyes of which are visible in the in-
flections of darker pigment beneath the brim of the headpiece and the mouth of
which is discernible in the analogous inflection of color above the figures of
what we have tentatively characterized as the underlying forearm and hand.
We will even discover, in inspecting the accents of lighter pigment above and
beneath the latter representation, that the individual in question is holding
some manner of implement in his hand perhaps a glass and may, as
such, have been depicted in the act of drinking, although the precise nature of
the activity in which he is engaged will remain open to speculation. Whatever
the precise character of the anecdotal dimension of the conception, we will find,
proceeding down the picture plane, that there are a pair of curious projections
of lighter color above the terminus of the subjects nose, and when we look to
and consider the area between the inclined countenance about the bridge and
the referenced oscillations of lighter pigment around the tip, we will identify
the intimations of a casually imparted torso and a pair of kneeling legs beneath
the focal image of the head.



Howsoever we care to conceive of the latter components of the representation,
the dimensions of the inclined visage would seem to suggest that it is an exten-
sion of the underlying configuration of analogous color, and if that were indeed
the case, the aforeferenced interpretation of the conception may well be an ac-
curate one. If we had the time and the inclination, we could proceed with our
inspection of the particulars, and we would find, of course, that the artist has
effected a subsequent metamorphosis of the image along the base of the in-
clined countenance and introduced a second head vertically aligned,
laterally illuminated and the features of which have been imparted by the in-
flections of darker pigment along the margin of the antecedent visage on
top of the perfunctorily imparted torso and legs. (The anomalous punctuation
of darker pigment in that quarter would indicate, incidentally, the location of
the mouth in the tertiary countenance, an orifice which has been circumscribed
by what would appear to be a sizable moustache across the lower half of the
conception.) The latter representation, modestly proportioned and ponderous-
ly hatted, is what could only be described as a diaphanous construction, it



embodies a rarefication which characterizes the images in these canvases in
their more obscure dimensions, macroscopic or microscopic, and inasmuch as
the reproduction with which we are working is significantly larger than life size,
it might be seen to confirm the existence of the remarkable perceptual acuity
with which we are being required to contend and to corroborate the earlier con-
tention that the paint was being applied in such circumstances with some
manner of pointed implement.



http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/self-portrait-in-front-
of-olive-wallpaper-1881.jpg




































FIGURE 3. FEMALE BATHERS, C. 1885. 65 X 65 CM. REWALD 554. KUN-
STMUSEUM BASEL. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In the present canvas, we will turn to and consider one of the more familiar
bathing compositions in the work of the artists forties a picture which, like
several of its predecessors in this sequence, might legitimately be characterized
as one of the iconic paintings in Western art of the previous two centuries
and we will, in perusing the curiously proportioned composition, consider
some intriguing adaptations of the countenance of the seated character in the
middle of the compressed picture space. We will find, in fact, as we inspect the
mosaic of lighter and darker colors between the bridge of the nose and the eye
on the right, that the artist has described the figure of an animated and intri-
guingly illuminated male countenance in that quarter of the representation. As
we proceed down and across the picture plane, we will identify a more sizable,
and arguably more interesting, embellishment of the females nose in and about
its terminus, a construction with which, mindful of the colorful conceptions



which we encountered in the pictures in the initial paper in this sequence, we
will momentarily endeavor to occupy ourselves. We will discover, in fact, that
the shadow along the side of the nose above, in and around, and ultimately
beneath the eye on the left side of the countenance resembles a casually
conformed and substantially crowned hat, and moving lower, we will appre-
hend the features of a complementary visage in and about the tip of the
subjects proximately situated nose. The inflections of darker pigment immedi-
ately beneath the brim of the headpiece would designate a pair of eyes, the
contour along the border of the underlying configuration of lighter color would
describe the outline along the crest of a nose, and the shadow about the base of
the latter organ would constitute a mustachioed upper lip and goateed chin
around the figure of an illuminated mouth. Although the reproduction is un-
fortunately inferior, we will find if we are successful in creatively
navigating the compromising pixilation that the construction is reasonably
accessible, and while, in and of itself, it is of only modest significance, its pres-
ence in a composition which is, as has been intimated, among the iconic
paintings of Western art of the previous two centuries, at the very least, inter-
esting.



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FIGURE 4. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 90 X 72 CM. REWALD 683.
BARNES FOUNDATION, PHILADELPHIA. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In addressing a self portrait from the artists middle thirties in the initial paper
in this sequence, we discovered that Cezanne had adorned the subjects nose
with the figure of a laterally illuminated secondary character, and as we turn to
and consider a portrait of the artists wife, a likeness which was executed about
a decade and a half later, we will encounter a similarly configured, if decidedly
more loosely constituted, fanciful construction. In the earlier painting, we iden-
tified the features of the secondary countenance in the shadow along the right
side of the subjects nose, and as we examine the corresponding portion of the
present image with that precedent in mind, we will discover that the represen-
tation of the shadow is unusually detailed and involved, particularly along the
lower half of the columnar chromatic configuration. In fact, as we continue to
examine the brushwork in that quarter, we will have little problem in appre-
hending the hatted head and the inclined countenance of another laterally



illuminated masculine character, an image which dissolves into insignificance,
of course, on the left, and light effaced, side of the casually imparted representa-
tion.



The projection in the shadow across from the crook in the nose and beneath the
image of the suprajacent eye would designate the projecting brim of a hat, and
the contour along the back of that accoutrement will be discerned in the chro-
matic disjunction on the other, and illuminated, side of the nasal organ. As we
proceed down the picture plane, we will encounter a couple of incongruously
highlighted eyelids in the crescents of lighter color in the middle of the colum-
nar arrangement, and we will discover, of course, that the underlying
punctuations of darker pigment would represent a pair of complementary, and
uncommonly conspicuous, eyes. Although the integrity of the infrajacent nose
would appear to have been compromised by some subsequent fanciful activity,
the mouth will be discerned in the horizontal line of darker pigment across
from the lobe around the base of the nasal image. The underlying portion of
the shadow would constitute the extended chin of the pleasantly miened char-
acter, and the intermediate color on the other side of the organ might be seen to
designate the top of an associated shoulder, although the latter image is not
particularly well developed nor an especially important component of the im-
petuously imparted representation. If the construction which we encountered
in the earlier self portrait was an adornment of an existing representation, the
conception in the present canvas would seem to suggest that these fanciful in-
terpolations would occasionally emerge as an integral component of, and a
parallel stratum of activity, in the development of the objective representations
themselves. In any event, the subordinate character whom we have identified
would indicate, if it werent already apparent, that the discursive propensity
and the fanciful activity which we have been investigating in this oeuvre would
play a prominent role in the painting of the artists maturity, currently under
consideration.






http://uploads2.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/portrait-of-madame-
cezanne-2.jpg







FIGURE 5. MALE FIGURE, 1888-90. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 659. NATIONAL
GALLERY, WASHINGTON. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In imparting the shadows about the eye sockets of the human visages which we
have been investigating, the artist would occasionally encroach upon the imag-
es of the proximately situated noses, and in a study of his significant other
nursing their infant son a picture which we examined, of course, in the ini-
tial paper in this sequence we considered an example of one such discursive,
and ultimately disruptive, conception. In an effort to address another in the
painting of Cezannes maturity, we will turn to and consider a representation of
distinctively attired young man, one of a series of likenesses of the gentleman
which the artist executed during his later forties. Inasmuch as we have been
focusing upon, and confining our discussion to, the figures of the subjects nos-
es in these paintings, we have ignored the fact that Cezanne was routinely
transforming the proximate eyes into secondary fanciful constructions, and we



will look to and consider, by way of introduction to the present discussion, an
example of one such ophthalmic metamorphosis.



We will want to examine the figure of the curiously imparted eye on the right
side of the countenance, and as we do so, we will find, in fact, that the artist has
converted the representation into the image of a laterally illuminated male head,
the anomalously highlighted eye sockets, nose, and dentally adorned mouth
visible on the shaded half of the visage. The crescent of darker pigment be-
tween the infrajacent eye and the suprajacent lid would designate the brim of a
complementary headpiece, and the crown of that same casually imparted, and
poetically conformed, accoutrement will be discerned in the inclined compart-
ment of intermediate further up the picture plane. The implied source of
illumination is, of course, from off to the left side of the figure, the variably en-
lightened conception is typical of the secondary constructions which we have
encountered in this oeuvre, and the representational obliquity arguably, as
has earlier been intimated, oriental in character is typical of the allusive im-
partations of form in these imaginative adaptations of the objective images.



As we incline our heads to the right and proceed to the left side of that modest-
ly dimensioned construction, we will identify a more sizable and colorful
example of the artists fanciful divertissement in and about the shadow along
the bridge of the subjects nose. In fact, the undulating, and delicately articulat-
ed, outline around the top of that amorphous arrangement would describe the
contour about the border of a cheek, and we will identify, as we proceed with
our inspection of the particulars, a complementary set of eyes, a pug nose, and
the figure of an associated mouth in the inflections of darker pigment on the
right side of that involved outline. Although the conception is similar to the
ones which we encountered in the earlier study of a nursing mother, the paint is
significantly thinner, and decidedly less opaque, in the present canvas, and the
conception is, as a consequence, appreciably more accessible than its predeces-
sors. The delicacy of the brushwork or better, perhaps, pointed implement-
work is simply stunning, and inasmuch as the representation is significant-



ly larger than life size, the locus of the referenced fanciful activity is something
approaching, at least figuratively speaking, microscopic in quality and charac-
ter.
http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/Collection/art-object-page.93044.html













































FIGURE 6 . THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 89 X 70 CM. REWALD 652. MU-
SEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In the painting before last, an impetuously executed portrait of the artists long-
time companion, we encountered the bust of a masculine character in the
shadow along the right side of the nose, although the subjects countenance was
casually imparted and the fanciful adornment of the nasal image may have
seemed to have been of limited significance as a consequence. As a means of
providing an example of a similar such conception in a more commendably ex-
ecuted portrait of the same female character one in which the orientation of
the head has been modified, and the shadow is on the other side of the nasal
image in the middle of the sitters visage we will turn to and consider a se-
cond portrait of the artists spouse in the painting of his later forties. Paralleling
the approach which we employed in inspecting the earlier portrait, we will
want to focus upon the involved brushwork across the lower half of the nasal



protuberance, and as we do so, we will find that, interestingly, there are a pair
of conspicuous lines of darker pigment along either side of the spine of the nose
an undulating one in the highlight on the right and a more linear one in the
shadow on the left side of the representation.



As we look to and consider the columnar striation of lighter color between the
referenced pair of lines, we will identify the figures of a couple of carefully ar-
ticulated and diagonally aligned eyes near the center of the subjects nose, and
as we proceed down the picture plane, we will encounter the intimation of a
complementary mouth in the anomalous line beneath and along the side of the
nostril on the left side of the organ. Although the chin of the casually imparted
construction is indistinct, we will find that the forehead is visible in the modest
compartment of lighter color above the figures of the inclined eyes, and we
might even discern the suggestion of a rudimentary headpiece in the arrange-
ment of subdued color around the suprajacent bridge of the nose. The
representation is, of course, significantly larger than the corresponding concep-
tion which we identified in the earlier study of the same subject, and although
the draftsmanship is discreet and commendably circumspect, the image in
question is arguably more conspicuous and accessible than its impetuously im-
parted precursor.



As we proceed further down the picture plane, following the irregular column
of shadow in the center of the subjects countenance, we will encounter another
such fanciful image clearly more prominent and unquestionably more con-
spicuous in the subdued color along the side of, and ultimately even
beneath, the figure of the infrajacent mouth. In fact, one eye will be discerned
in the corner of the intriguingly abbreviated oral representation, another will be
identified in the corresponding punctuation of darker pigment on the left, and
the spine of the associated, and appropriately highlighted, nose will be distin-
guished in the anomalous striation of lighter color between the referenced pair
of ophthalmic images. As we proceed lower still, we will encounter the figure
of a complementary mouth in the accent of darker pigment beneath the sub-



jects lower lip, and as we ponder the characteristics of the conception, we will
appreciate that the tertiary visage has been depicted in something approaching
three quarter profile. If we were so inclined, we could proceed to the immedi-
ate right and continue with our inspection of the particulars, and we would
discover, of course, that the right side of the representation has been appropri-
ated and employed as the shaded half of a quaternary image in that quarter, a
diagonally aligned, laterally illuminated, and ponderously hatted male head in,
about, and ultimately beneath the corner of the subjects lower lip. The second-
ary constructions in question might be seen to indicate the density of fanciful
invention which is present in these paintings, and although the latter pair of
representations are oral rather than nasal, they might be perceived to adum-
brate the presence of the kaleidoscopic play of form with which we will
eventually be required to contend in addressing these intriguingly constituted
canvases.



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cezanne-in-a-red-dress.jpg





























FIGURE 7. CARD PLAYERS, 1890-92. 65 X 81 CM. REWALD 707. METRO-
POLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



In the present painting, a study of several card players and a picture which is
one of the more esteemed canvases in Cezannes extensive oeuvre, we will fo-
cus upon and confine our discussion to the head of the profiled character on
the right side of the composition. Although we are investigating the nasal
adornments which are present in these paintings, we will take a moment and
consider, by way of introduction to the fanciful activity which permeates the
representation, the highlighted arrangement of flesh on the right side of the
profiled visage, an area in which we will encounter a mosaic of inflections
which have been imparted with what might accurately be characterized as a
jewelers precision. As we rotate our heads to the right and consider the refer-
enced arrangement along the axis of the inclined contour along the base of the
coiffure, we will find, in fact, that the inflections in question would designate
the features of a horizontal fanciful countenance in that quarter, one which



would appear to have been accoutered with the proximately situated ear as a
headpiece and an improvisation which was presumably inspired by the pro-
spect of employing precisely such an amusing adaptation of the latter image.



Having established the representational register with which we can expect to
encounter in other portions of the image, we will return to the vertical axis of
the painting and proceed across the picture plane to the other side of the pro-
filed countenance. As it turns out, we will want to consider the shadow about
and above the eye, an area in which as we ponder the inflections of lighter
pigment in that quarter we will identify another delicately imparted fanci-
ful conception, this one reminiscent of the laterally illuminated construction
which we encountered along the side of the nose in an earlier canvas. The car-
et-like accent of darker pigment around the top of the configuration of lighter
color upon the nose would constitute a pair of parted lips, and the overhead
disjunction in the color would describe the contour along the spine of a com-
plementary, and only perfunctorily developed, nose. The inflections of lighter
color on either side of the bridge of the latter organ would represent the whites
of a pair of eyes, the suprajacent punctuations of darker pigment would de-
scribe the contour around the circumscribing sockets, and the luminous flesh on
the right would constitute the highlighted cheek of the emerging construction,
typically masculine in gender. The darker color on the left above the eye
and along the margin of the proximate forehead would constitute the shad-
ed segment of the countenance, and the disjunction in the color along the top of
the representation would appear to depict the undulating brim of a truncated,
and largely obscured, hat. We will find, in fact, that the color in that quarter has
been fashioned into the figure of a modestly inclined, laterally illuminated, and
perfunctorily hatted male head, and when we look to and consider the adjacent
column of lighter color upon the subjects nose, we will apprehend what could
only be the elevated forearm and hand of the character, the appendage appar-
ently introducing some manner of fare into the proximate, and conveniently
open, mouth.





http://uploads4.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/the-card-players-
1893.jpg







FIGURE 8. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1890. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 670. BUHRLE
FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



We will, in inspecting the present picture a portrait of the artist in front of
his easel and one of the more familiar paintings in the work of his early fifties
consider an intriguing expression of fancy along the side of the head before
turning to and considering the nasal interpolation in which we are interested.
We will find, in fact, as we to look to and examine the reductionist ear, that the
lighter color across the lower half of the organ has been converted into an in-
clined countenance the features of the face present, of course, in the shadow
upon the right side of the variably illuminated form and that the upper half
of the organ has been fashioned into the figure of an amusingly oversized
headpiece, a whimsical construction which injects something of a carnivalic
ambience into an otherwise pedestrian likeness. We will discover, of course, as
we continue with our inspection of the particulars, that the artist has subse-
quently converted the chin into a diminutive tertiary construction in and about



the lobe of the ear, the features of which have been imparted, as in the larger
conception in that quarter, with remarkable care and precision.



As we proceed across the canvas to the right and, in keeping with our acknowl-
edged interest, look to and focus upon the figure of the subjects nose, we will
encounter another colorful and eminently accessible fanciful construction in
that portion of the representation. In fact, the mottled color on the left side of,
and slightly above, the bridge has been fashioned into another conspicuous
headpiece, this one possessing an arcing, although not undulating, brim and a
crown of only moderate elevation. As we look to the underlying arrangement
of intermediate color, we will apprehend the features of a conspicuous male
countenance in the constellation of darker punctuations in that quarter, a prom-
inent set of eyes and eyebrows across the upper third of the arrangement and
what would appear to be an anomalously angled mouth in the corresponding
line of darker pigment across the lower third. In an earlier painting in this se-
quence a portrait of one of the artists youthful associates and a picture
which was the fourth one which we considered in the previous paper in this
series we observed that a similarly constituted countenance had been ac-
companied by, and complemented with, the figure of an elevated arm along the
base of the bust-like construction. As we examine the present image with that
precedent in mind, we will find that the intermediate color beneath the counte-
nance has indeed been fashioned into the figure of an elevated, and flexed, left
arm along the base of the subjects nose, a representation which would appear
to feature a projecting hand in the configuration of lighter color at and about its
terminus. In fact, the pose in question was employed on numerous occasions in
the artists adaptations of the noses in his portraits, and it will not, as it turns
out, be the final instance which we encounter it in the course of this introducto-
ry discourse.



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palette.jpg













FIGURE 9. CARD PLAYERS, 1892-93. 97 X 130 CM. REWALD 710. NA-
TIONAL MUSEUM, QATAR. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



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1.jpg























FIGURE 10. AMBROISE VOLLARD, 1899. 100 x 81 CM. REWALD 811. MU-
SEE DU PETIT PALAIS, PARIS. (WIKI/PAIINTINGS PHOTO)



In the next painting which we will consider in this progression a study of
the artists dealer, and a canvas which is arguably the most distinguished por-
trait in his oeuvre we will encounter an especially felicitous example of the
nasal constructions which we have been addressing in the course of this intro-
ductory discourse. Mindful of the precedent which was established in a recent
painting in this sequence the self portrait in front of an easel which we in-
spected, of course, in the painting before last we will look to and commence
our discussion with a consideration of the area in and about the bridge of the
nose, the cognate segment of the image in which we encountered a conspicuous
headpiece in the aforeferenced earlier canvas. We will have little problem in
identifying the corresponding, and considerably more fully developed, accou-
trement in the present representation, a handsome hat with a conspicuously
arcing brim and a rigid crown in the area between the subjects eyebrows. As



we look to the underlying configuration of lighter color, we will encounter
perhaps surprisingly, in light of the gender bias which has been exhibited in the
earlier constructions in this sequence the fair and graciously framed coun-
tenance of a diminutive female character, an individual whose eyes, nose and
mouth are present in the middle of the chromatic arrangement and one whose
comely visage has been capped with the distinctive headpiece of which we
have heard.



As we proceed down the picture plane, we will identify what would appear to
be the upper torso and crossed arms of the bust-like character in the underlying
configurations of intermediate color, and we will observe that the female, as
blithe as she is comely, has turned her head and is gazing off to the left over the
figure of her foreground shoulder. The representation is, significantly, the fin-
est such construction which we have encountered since the image of a similarly
becoming female in a self portrait from the artists early thirties, and it is fasci-
nating to ponder the curious juxtaposition of poetry, charm and beauty with the
forbidding sobriety of the subjects vacant countenance. We could spend a sig-
nificant amount of time investigating the successive punning metamorphoses
which have been effected upon the image most notably, of course, in the
lighter color across the bottom half of the female visage and along the flank of
the underlying neck, a configuration which features the inclined countenance of
a substantially larger masculine character, presumably the secondary concep-
tion in the multifaceted conceit but we will, as it turns out, in light of the
requirements of this introductory discourse, forego such a discussion for the
moment. Suffice it to say that if there were any lingering doubts about the ex-
istence or the significance of the fanciful activity which we have been
investigating, the nasal construction, or constructions, in the present picture
a painting which, as has been indicated, is probably the most distinguished por-
trait in the artists oeuvre would effectively serve to dispel them.
Howsoever we care to conceive of the likes of these whimsical conceptions, it is
heartening to encounter, after a century of limbo-like oblivion, the living hu-
man being beneath the projectionate faade of the Cezanne persona.





http://uploads7.wikipaintings.org/images/paul-cezanne/portrait-of-ambroise-
vollard-1899.jpg







FIGURE 11. FEMALE PORTRAIT, 1902-04. 66 X 50 CM. REWALD 945.
PHILLIPS COLLECTION, WASHINGTON. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)



In the course of his later years, Cezanne returned to the proto-impressionistic
technique which he had employed in his early thirties, albeit in different form,
and the impartations of objective reality in his paintings became progressively
more relaxed. In an effort to indicate the character of the correspondingly casu-
al fanciful constructions which are present in the canvases of his final years
and as a means of addressing another of the colorful nasal embellishments in
which we are interested we will turn to and consider a portrait of a mature
and commendably attired woman. We will find, of course, that the execution
has become significantly more impetuous than in the preceding paintings in
this sequence, and if we were so inclined, we could identify another diminutive
countenance, diagonally aligned and discreetly imparted, in the angled config-
uration of lighter color above the tip of the nose. We will, however, in keeping
with our announced interest, ignore that conception and turn instead to the



significantly more sizable fanciful construction along the flank of the nose along
the left side of the curiously constituted organ. We will identify, in fact, a pair
of eyes and eyebrows in the inflections of intermediate pigment at the top of the
configuration of lighter color, we will encounter the image of an associated nose
in the underlying column of luminous pigment, and proceeding further down
the picture plane, we will distinguish the figure of a discreetly imparted, and
pleasantly conformed, mouth at the base of the referenced arrangement of
lighter color. As we look to either side of the focal constellation of features, we
will encounter the luminous flesh of a pair of complementary cheeks in the
lighter color along the flank of the subjects nose, we will observe that the chin
recedes into, and is ultimately obscured by, the superimposed brushstrokes
along the base of the construction, and although the complementary headpiece
has been only modestly developed along the right side of the representation, its
presence can be inferred by the shadow cast by the brim across the forehead of
the cherubic, and ultimately dimpled, visage. Not at all surprisingly, the lassi-
tude in the impartation of the construction might be seen to parallel that which
the artist has exhibited in his evocation of the subjects countenance, and in any
event, the conception in consideration might be perceived to indicate the char-
acter of the fanciful phenomena which we can expect to encounter in the
painting of the artists concluding years.



https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/asset-viewer/seated-woman-in-
blue/1AG7I2MOyfdjdw?projectId=art-project























FIGURE 12. MALE PORTRAIT, 1906. 65 X 54 CM. REWALD 954. PRIVATE
COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)



Near the end of his life, Cezanne executed a series of portraits of his gardener in
various poses, and inasmuch as the present canvas would appear to have been
the last one in the sequence additionally, perhaps, his final portrait in oil
it will provide us with an appropriate point of conclusion for this introductory
survey of the nasal phenomena in his painting. As we examine the shadow
along the left side of the subjects nose, we will find, not surprisingly, that there
is a constellation of darker accents in that quarter of the representation, and as
we contemplate those conspicuous inflections, we will discover that they de-
scribe the features of an auspiciously configured and pleasantly miened male
countenance in the middle of the nasal organ. The upper pair of accents would
designate, of course, a pair of conspicuous eyes, and the horizontal line of
analogous pigment further down the picture plane would describe the figure of
a complementary, and agreeably conformed, mouth. The underlying crescent



of darker pigment continued, of course, in the corresponding line of color
along the flank of the subjects nose would describe the contour around the
chin and along the left side of the laterally, and even dramatically, illuminated
countenance.



As we look to the lighter half of the bichromatic construction, we might even
discern the suggestion of a perfunctorily imparted ear in the anomalous inflec-
tion of darker pigment along the spine of the nose, and we will appreciate, in
any event, that the luminous color in that quarter would represent the high-
lighted half of the inclined countenance which we have identified. We will find,
of course, as we proceed with our inspection of the particulars, that the under-
lying configurations of color would represent the variably illuminated
shoulders of the bust-length construction, and as we proceed back up the pic-
ture plane, we will discover that the color around the bridge of the nose and
along the base of the contiguous forehead have been fashioned into the figure
of another in a line of unquestionably festive headpieces. The countenance pro-
jects an agreeableness, even blitheness, which we might not have expected to
have encountered from a painter in challenging circumstances, and the exotic
headpiece itself invested with a subordinate anthropic dimension
would only contribute further to a perhaps incipient sense of incredulity. The
representational apparatus articulating the features of a countenance in a
columnar striation of shadow along the flank of a nose is one which we
have encountered, of course, on several other occasions in the course of this in-
troductory exposition. Alas, the image in question would appear to have been
the final such interpolation in the artists numerous portraits, and it will pro-
vide us, as such, with an appropriate point of conclusion for this investigation
of the nasal phenomena in his intriguingly constituted paintings. Then he will
carry his secret into the grave, an associate commented in a correspondence
shortly after Cezannes decease in nineteen six, for he wanted to tell me all, he
wrote me, and I dont know what he meant by that.






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REPRODUCTIONS


























Inasmuch as this art features a tenuous relationship with the phenomena of objective
reality, the conventional titles of the paintings, typically anecdotal, have been replaced
with generic substitutes.


The Rewald Catalog Raisonne (Abrams; New York, 1996) is the definitive reference
work for Cezannes paintings, and the conjectured dates of execution for the canvases
have been obtained from that source.


On occasion, when there are significant disparities, dates have been derived from the
earlier Venturi Catalog Raisonne (Rosenberg; Paris, 1936) and an asterisk has been ap-
pended to the inscriptions in those instances.


The dimensions of the canvases have been obtained from the Rewald catalog even
when there is a disparity with museum measurements and the Rewald catalog
numbers have additionally been included.


Finally, the collections, the photographic sources, and the page numbers on which the
paintings have been reproduced in the catalog raisonne have been introduced at the con-
clusion of the information sequences.














ESSAY ONE





FIGURE 1. MALE PORTRAIT, 1862-64. 46 X 37 CM. REWALD 073. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 2 MALE FIGURE, C. 1867. 107 X 83 CM. REWALD 120. MUSEU DE
ARTE, SAO PAULO. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 3. PORTRAIT HEADS, C. 1870. 71 X 57 CM. REWALD 155. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 4. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1870. 46 X 38 CM. REWALD 176. NA-
TIONAL GALLERY, OTTAWA. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 5. ALEXIS AND ZOLA, 1869-70. 130 X 160 CM. REWALD 151. MU-
SEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (MUSEUM PHOTO)





FIGURE 6. GUSTAVE BOYER, C. 1871. 55 X 39 CM. REWALD 174. METRO-
POLITAN MUSEUM, NEW YORK. (MUSEUM PHOTO)


FIGURE 7. THE ARTISTS WIFE, C. 1872. 22 X 22 CM. REWALD 216. PRI-
VATE COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 8. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 53 X 38 CM. REWALD 219. HER-
MITAGE MUSEUM, ST. PETERSBURG. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 9. FEMALE PORTRAIT, 1873-74. 11 X 15 CM. REWALD 230.
STAATLICHE MUSEUM BERGGRUEN, BERLIN. (R/M/N PHOTO)


FIGURE 10. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1875. 64 X 53 CM. REWALD 182. MUSEE
DORSAY, PARIS. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 11. MALE BATHER, 1877-78. 73 X 60 CM. REWALD 370. PRIVATE
COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 12. SELF PORTRAIT, 1878-79. 34 X 26 CM. REWALD 384. MUSEUM
OF MODERN ART, NEW YORK. (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)






















ESSAY TWO





FIGURE 1. SELF PORTRAIT, 1879-80. 34 X 25 CM. REWALD 416. OSKAR
REINHART FOUNDATION, WINTERTHUR. (ATHENAEUM PHOTO)


FIGURE 2. SELF PORTRAIT, 1880-81. 34 X 26 CM. REWALD 482. NATION-
AL GALLERY, LONDON. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 3. FEMALE BATHERS, C. 1885. 65 X 65 CM. REWALD 554. KUN-
STMUSEUM BASEL. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 4. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 90 X 72 CM. REWALD 683.
BARNES FOUNDATION, PHILADELPHIA. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 5. MALE FIGURE, 1888-90. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 659. NATIONAL
GALLERY, WASHINGTON. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)





FIGURE 6. THE ARTISTS WIFE, 1888-90. 89 X 70 CM. REWALD 652. MU-
SEU DE ARTE, SAO PAULO. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 7. CARD PLAYERS, 1890-92. 65 X 81 CM. REWALD 707. METRO-
POLITAN MSEUM , NEW YORK. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 8. SELF PORTRAIT, C. 1890. 92 X 73 CM. REWALD 670. BUHRLE
FOUNDATION, ZURICH. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 9. CARD PLAYERS, 1892-93. 97 X 130 CM. REWALD 710. NA-
TIONAL MUSEUM, QATAR. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 10. AMBROISE VOLLARD, 1899. 100 x 82 CM. REWALD 811. MU-
SEE DU PETIT PALAIS, PARIS. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)


FIGURE 11. FEMALE PORTRAIT, 1902-04. 66 X 50 CM. REWALD 945.
PHILLIPS COLLECTION, WASHINGTON . (GOOGLE A/P PHOTO)


FIGURE 12. MALE PORTRAIT, 1906. 65 X 54 CM. REWALD 954. PRIVATE
COLLECTION. (WIKI/PAINTINGS PHOTO)