The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne
An Online Catalogue Raisonné under the Direction of Société Paul Cezanne
(Formerly directed by Walter Feilchenfeldt, Jayne Warman and David Nash)
FWN 601
Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola
1869–70
Alternate titles: Deux Hommes jouant aux cartes dans un interieur; Emile Zola Reasing to Paul Alexis; Im Atelier; Intérieur; Intérieur or La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Emile Zola; La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola; Lecture chez Zola; Lecture d'un manuscrit d'Emile Zola; Paul Alexis liest Emile Zola vor; Paul Alexis reading at Zola's house; Portraits de Zola et d'Alexis se faisant la lecture; Two Men Playing Cards; Une lecture chez Zola
Rewald (150): 1869–70; Venturi revised: c.1870; Venturi (118): 1869–70; Rivière: 1868; Gowing: (London) c.1867–69; Ratcliffe: between September 1869 and July 1870
Oil on canvas
20 1/2 x 22 in. (52 x 56 cm)
Vollard archives: photo no. 325, Annotated by Cezanne's son: Une lecture chez Zola, 1873?
Private collection
Provenance
Exhibition History
Salon d'Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, Rétrospective d'oeuvres de Cézanne, October 1–22, 1907, no. 7, as Lecture d'un manuscrit d'Emile Zola, lent by Pellerin.
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Exposition rétrospective Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) au profit de la caisse du Monument Cézanne, June 1–30, 1926, no. 36, as Intérieur, Dauberville 2020 says that this is the work shown, but FWN 703 is clearly described in Gaboriaud 1926 as no. 36 in this exhibition.
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Cent ans de théâtre, music-hall et cirque, dix-neuvième siècle, May 25–July 13, 1936, no. 12, ill., as La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, lent by M. et Mme Pellerin.
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Emile Zola: exposition organisée pour le cinquantième anniversaire de sa mort, December 12, 1952–March 1, 1953, no. 53, pl. II, as Une lecture chez Zola, 1863-1864, lent by Private collection.
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Faces from the World of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, November 2–December 9, 1972, no. 12, ill., as Emile Zola Reasing to Paul Alexis, 1869-70, Anonymous lender.
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Cézanne, March 30–May 19, 1974, no. 5. Traveled to: Municipal Museum, Kyoto, Japan, June 1–July 17, 1974; Cultural Center, Fukuoka, Japan, July 24–August 18, 1974.
Royal Academy of Arts, London, Cézanne: The Early Years 1859–1872, April 22–August 21, 1988, no. 43, ill. Traveled to: Musée d'Orsay, Cézanne: les années de jeunesse 1859-1872, Paris, September 19, 1988–January 1, 1989; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29–April 30, 1989.
Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, Paul Cézanne: Die Badenden, September 10–December 10, 1989, no. 3, pl. 38, p. 64 (detail).
Royal Academy of Arts, London, From Manet to Gauguin: Masterpieces from Swiss Private Collections, June 30–October 8, 1995, no. 2, ill.
Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland, Degas, Cézanne, Picasso: Meisterwerke aus Privatbesitz, January 28–March 17, 1996, listed p. 121, ill., as La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola. Traveled to: Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany, April 21–June 16, 1996; Staatliche Kunstsammlung Dresden, Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany, July 8–September 15, 1996; Kunstforum Bank Austria, Wien, Austria, September 25–December 8, 1996; Fondation de l'Hermitage, Lausanne, Switzerland, January 24–April 27, 1997.
Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, Manet, Zola, Cézanne: Das Porträt des Modernen Literaten, February 6–June 21, 1999, no. 9, ill. in color, p. 19.
Kunstforum, Vienna, Cézanne: Vollendet unvollendet, January 20–April 25, 2000, no. 2, ill., as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola. Traveled to: Kunsthaus, Zürich, May 5–August 13, 2000 (initially planned to end on July 30 the exhibition was extended until August 13).
Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, Cézanne et Paris, October 12, 2011–February 26, 2012, no. 14, ill., p. 37, as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, lent by Private collection.
Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany, El Greco und die Moderne, April 28–August 12, 2012, listed p. 405, ill. p. 166, as La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, 1869-1870, lent by Private collection, Switzerland.
Kunstmuseum Basel, Basel, Switzerland, The Hidden Cézanne: From Sketchbook to Canvas, June 10–September 24, 2017, no. 55, ill.
Published References
Pératé, André. "Le Salon d'Automne." Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 38, periode 3 (November, 1907), p. 388.
Rivière, Georges. Le Maître Paul Cézanne. Paris: Librairie Floury, 1923, p. 198, listed.
Fry, Roger. "Le développement de Cézanne." L'Amour de l'art 7, no. 12 (December 1926), ill. p. 401, as Deux Hommes jouant aux cartes dans un interieur.
Fry, Roger. Cézanne: A Study of His Development. New York: Macmillan, 1927, p. 25, fig. 12, pl. IX.
Di San Lazzaro, Gualtieri. Paul Cézanne. Paris: Chroniques du Jour, 1936, fig. 41.
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne: Son Art, Son Oeuvre. Paris: Editions Paul Rosenberg, 1936, no. 118, ill. vol. II, as Lecture chez Zola.
Rewald, John. "A propos du catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre de Paul Cézanne et de la chronologie de cette œuvre." La Renaissance (Paris), vol. 20, nos. 3-4 (March–April 1937), p. 54, as Portraits de Zola et d'Alexis se faisant la lecture.
Barnes, Albert C., and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Cézanne. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939, no. 23, ill. p. 154 (analysis p. 309).
Rewald, John. Cézanne, sa vie, son œuvre, son amitié pour Zola. Paris: Albin Michel, 1939, fig. 23.
Novotny, Fritz. Cézanne. London: Phaidon Press, 1947, pl. 10, as Lecture chez Zola, 1869-70.
Fry, Roger. Cézanne: A Study of his Developement. London: Hogarth Press, 1952, p. 25, pl. IX fig. 12, as Two Men Playing Cards.
Perruchot, Henri. "Les Quinze Logis de Monsieur Cézanne." L'Oeil, no. 12 (Christmas 1955), p. 36, ill.
Adhémar, Jean. "Le cabinet de travail de Zola." Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 56, periode 6 (November 1960), p. 286, fig. 6 p. 286 et pp. 293 et 294 (no. 130).
Chappuis, Adrien. Les dessins de Paul Cézanne au cabinet des estampes du Musée des beaux-arts de Bâle. Olten and Lausanne: Urs Graf, 1962, vol. 1, p. 56, fig. 24.
Reff, Theodore. "Cézanne Drawings." Review of Les dessins de Paul Cézanne au cabinet des estampes du Musée des beaux-arts de Bâle, by Adrien Chappuis. The Burlington Magazine 105, no. 725 (August 1963), p. 375.
Andersen, Wayne V. Cézanne's Portrait Drawings. Cambridge, MA, London: MIT Press, 1970, p. 225, fig. 248a.
Pickvance, Ronald, and Hideo Takumi. Cézanne. Tokyo: Tokyo Shimbun, 1986. Exhibition catalogue, p. 30, ill. b/w.
Lewis, Mary Tompkins. Cézanne's Early Imagery. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989, p. 138, pl. VIII.
Naubert-Riser, Constance. Cézanne. London: Studio Editions, 1994, p. 13, ill. in b/w.
Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne, A Catalogue Raisonné, 2 vols. In Collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt and Jayne Warman. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996, no. 150, ill. vol. 2, as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola.
Lewis, Mary Tompkins. "The Path to Les Lauves: A History of Cézanne's Studios." In Atelier Cézanne, 1902–2002: Le centenaire. Aix-en-Provence: Société Paul Cézanne, 2002, fig. 9, ill. in color.
Mori, Gioia. "'La letteratura si esprime con astrazioni mentre il pittore concretizza.' Gli scrittori di Cézanne: Zola, Balzac e Flaubert." In Cézanne: Il padre dei moderni. Milan: Mazzotta, 2002. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 86.
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. Cézanne and Provence: The Painter in His Culture. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003, p. 89, fig. 2.39, as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola.
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. "Cézanne and His Friends at Jas de Bouffan." In Jas de Bouffan: Cézanne, Société Paul Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence: Hexagone, 2004, fig. 26, ill. in color.
Adriani, Götz. "Eine Moderne Olympia." In Bordell und Boudoir. Schauplätze der Moderne: Cézanne, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 72, as Paul Alexis liest Emile Zola vor.
Mitterand, Henri. "Une fraternité d'artistes: Cézanne et Zola." In Cézanne et Paris. Paris: Éditions de la Rmn-Grand Palais, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 37, ill., as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola.
Société Paul Cézanne. P. Cézanne: À Paris et en Île de France. ed., Denis Coutagne. Marseille: Éditions Crès, 2011, p. 11, ill., as Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola.
Colrat, Jean. Cézanne: Joindre les mains errantes de la nature. Paris-Sorbonne: PUPS, 2013, p. 308, pl. 140.
Dombrowski, André. Cézanne, Murder, and Modern Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013, pl. 10.
Jeancolas, Claude. Le Groupe des Batignolles, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Bazille, Cezanne, Monet, Morisot, Astruc, Zola…1865–1874. Paris: Editions FVW, 2014, p. 41, ill.
Verdi, Richard. "Rembrandt and Cézanne." The Burlington Magazine 157, no. 1350 (September 2015), fig. 24, as Paul Alexis reading at Zola's house, c. 1867-69.
Cezanne, Jas de Bouffan: art et histoire. Under the scientific direction of Denis Coutagne and François Chédeville. Lyon; Aix-en-Provence: Fage édition; Société Paul Cezanne, 2019, fig. 69 p. 84.
Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Floriane Dauberville. Paul Cezanne chez Bernheim-Jeune. Paris: Editions G-P.F. Dauberville & Archives Bernheim-Jeune, 2020, no. 166, ill., as Intérieur or La lecture de Paul Alexis chez Emile Zola, installation photograph from 1936 exhibition, p. 135.
Clark, T.J. If These Apples Should Fall, Cézanne and the Present. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2022, pl. 65.
Notes
The sitter at the left may not be Alexis, who was not known to Zola until September 1869. If it is not Alexis, the painting can be dated earlier as suggested by Adhémar and Reff. The title comes from the Zola sale catalogue and was presumably given by Zola's widow, even though Alexis seems to be the listener. The inkwell can be seen in Manet's portrait of Zola (Musée d'Orsay) and the black clock on the mantlepiece is the same as in La Pendule noire, 1867–69 (708).
Related
Record last updated September 20, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Société Paul Cezanne. "Une lecture de Paul Alexis chez Zola, 1869–70 (FWN 601)." In The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=158 (accessed on April 19, 2024).
