The World Is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cezanne

This is the catalogue for the exhibition of the same name at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia from June to September 2014 and at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Ontario from November 2014 until February 2015. It ranks toward the top of the three dozen or so books on Cézanne that I have accumulated in the many years of my fascination with this artist, both for the illustrations and for the texts. The exhibition consists of twenty-one paintings, all of which are reproduced full-page or double-page and in excellent color. Most of them are of the plated fruit we are familiar with, but also a few of skulls, flowers or assorted crockery. They are dispersed throughout the volume in the order in which they are discussed in the texts, which avoids a lot of page-flipping between essays and pictures. They are accompanied by about seventy excellently chosen companion figures for comparison purposes, many also printed either full-page or double-page. In addition, there are some forty pages or double-pages of blown up details, a couple of them in the raking light needed to demonstrate the depth of the impasted surface. This amount of illustration may seem excessive, but it is not, given the nature of the essays which it serves.There are four scholarly essays, all by noted art historians who have previously written extensively on Cézanne and are recognized authorities in the field. Benedict Leca, head curator at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, who curated the exhibition and edited the catalogue, presents a closely argued overview of the artist's oeuvre with two related goals. The first is to explode the myth, greatly abetted by the painter himself, that Cézanne was some kind of "prescient, untutored savage" (67) who spontaneously exuded painting, and the second is to demonstrate that, on the contrary, his still life compositions were meticulously thought out, completely consciously constructed, and supremely artfully arranged. His arguments are very well made and his examples completely convincing; Dr. Leca's writing is sophisticated and subtle and repays close attention--that is equally true of the other pieces also. Paul Smith, an art historian at the University of Warwick, provides extremely close readings of the illumination, pigments, and colors of the still lifes, both with reference to contemporary color theories of figures like Jean-Désiré Régnier and Ernst Brücke and also in light of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and modern research into optics and visual physiology. Richard Shiff, Regents Chair in art at the University of Texas in Austin, examines Cézanne's still lifes in the context of fin-de-siècle discussions of "pure" art and the relative positions of "morality" and "materiality" in painting, discussions in which Cézanne's work became increasingly important, and even central, as it became more widely recognized around the turn of the century. To summarize these essays so quickly does not really do them justice, for they are all significant and substantial pieces, averaging about fifty pages in length. The readings of the paintings are very close and the discussions very detailed, focussing often on minute passages, even individual brush strokes, and for this reason the copious illustration mentioned above, especially the many pages of blown-up details, is not only welcome, but useful and necessary. The essays are generally based on the proposition, which they quite well demonstrate, that it is Cézanne's still lifes, rather than his landscapes or figure paintings, that best illustrate the ways his artistic "research," as he liked to call his work, was intended to promote the aims of art. I found that perspective convincing; the essays are thoughtful and stimulating, and I learned a great deal from them, not only about Cézanne, but about the nature of still life in general. The fourth essay is by Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, chair of the art history department at the University of Delaware. She does not deal directly with the still lifes but rather reprises some themes from her well received book "Cézanne and Provence" (2003), which was an extended examination of the artist's relationship to the culture of his native country ("pays"). Here she contributes an essay from an unusual perspective: on Cézanne's studio and its contents; she examines some of the pitchers and bowls and other props he used in the paintings, indicating the way in which they underscore his cultural conservatism and the pride of local patriotism.The catalogue does not have very much in the way of scholarly apparatus--just a check-list of the exhibition with the usual curatorial data, a one-page selected bibliography and a comprehensive index--although the essays themselves are meticulously annotated and contain a wealth of references for those wishing to explore further. I do not think this is a high recommendation for the general public or for people with only a passing interest in its subject; many other books are available for those who just want a good collection of Cézanne's paintings. But given the expertise of the contributors and the level of their discussions, scholars will have to take note of the volume, and it is certainly very highly recommended for all those with a special interest in Cézanne or still life.

The numerous reproductions are of very high quality, so the book is well worth the investment for people who like to look at art more than they want to read about it. The organization of the book, however, could not be worse. The book is organized to serve the several articles which present various art historical points of view. For lack of chronological presentation, it is impossible to appreciate Cezanne's development over his career, again assuming you prefer to look rather than read. The same painting is reproduced in the context of different articles, so space is wasted which might otherwise have been used to present reproductions of other still lifes. The articles are informative, but I still wish the volume had been devoted more to the paintings and less to the commentary. All in all, though, I value the book as a way to have access to a broad sampling of some of Cezanne's most beautiful "experiments".

There are legitimate arguments about which of his many genres best represent Cezanne -- landscapes, portraits, still-lifes.My vote would go to the still lifes, and especially those that involve apples. This is not the place to defend that, and others can reasonably disagree. That said, this book, based on an exhibit (now at the Barnes as I recall) is an excellent treatment. As someone once said (I paraphrase) everyone loves Cezanne but no one can explain why. He and his art are endlessly fascinating. There are hundreds of books on Cezanne and his art and because the former is bereft of "hard data" from his life as opposed to possibly biased reports of conversations and the latter subject to multiple interpretations, additional books will continue to flow. This is the best on his still lifes although somewhat limited even for that topic because it focuses on the apple pictures. It is well written with a minimum of incomprehensible post-modern babble. Quite readable for those with some understanding of art.

Lovely illustrations and thoughtful essays. However, technically, the use of the the phrase ‘the still lifes of Paul Cezanne’ in the title denotes a definitive presentation, not a small sampling as is included in the book which is disappointing.

I first saw this book in an art lecture in Philadelphia and loved it! I came home and ordered it right away and it is so great!! The color plates are large and gorgeous!

This is a very beautiful volume and I liked it, but I found the essays overly pedantic. If you're not well-versed in art (not art history, but the technical aspects of painting), then this isn't the book for you.

Not very bad. For leisure reading...

This book is great. Although some of the illustrations will be familiar to fans, the reproduction quality makes this a good addition to the library.

A fine perspective.

Lovely book with a wealth of colourful illustrations. Exactly what I was looking for.

E' il catalogo di una mostra dedicata ad alcune delle nature morte dipinte da Cézanne (quindi non sono TUTTE, ma alcune). Le riproduzioni sono di alta qualità e spesso a piena pagina: si vedono bene le pennellate e l'impasto! Ottimo per capire il modo in cui Cézanne dipingeva. Non ho ancora letto i testi, posso solo parlare delle riproduzioni, che mi hanno molto soddisfatta. Consigliato agli amanti della pittura.