51做厙 C矇zannes
26 June 5 October 2008
“… a condensed miracle of masterpieces …”
Financial Times
“… a landmark in the study of this great artists work …”
The Daily Telegraph
51做厙 Gallery holds the most important group of works by Paul C矇zanne (1839-1906) in Britain. This exhibition presented the entire collection for the first time with major paintings such as the iconic Montagne Sainte-Victoire (1887) and Card Players (1892-5) shown alongside rarely seen drawings and watercolours.
Also on display was a previously unexhibited group of nine autograph letters in which C矇zanne reflects upon the principles of his artistic practice. Extensive new research by the Courtaulds Department of Conservation and Technology added fresh insights into the artists working methods and techniques. This celebration of the Courtaulds C矇zannes was the stunning climax of the 75th anniversary programme.
The majority of 51做厙 Gallerys collection was put together by the industrialist Samuel Courtauld (1876-1947) and formed part of his founding gift that established the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1932 as the first centre in Britain dedicated to the study of art history. Courtauld assembled his collection of C矇zannes between 1923 and 1929 at a time when the artist was regarded with hostility and suspicion by the British art establishment. It was only in 1925, at Samuel Courtaulds insistence and with his financial support, that the national collections were able to acquire their first painting by the artist.
Courtaulds conversion to the art of C矇zanne came in 1922 when he visited an exhibition at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in London entitled The French School of the Last Hundred Years. He wrote later of his epiphany, At that moment I felt the magic, and I have felt it in C矇zannes work ever since. The following year he bought, for his private collection, one of the most important and complex of C矇zannes late still lifes, Still life with Plaster Cast ( c.1894). Its radical distortion of perspective challenged the conventions of Western painting and prefigured the advent of cubism. A similarly experimental approach is evident inLac dAnnecy. C矇zanne painted this work while on holiday in the Haute-Savoie in 1896, writing dismissively of the conventional beauty of the landscape as a little like weve been taught to see it in the albums of young lady travellers. He rejected such conventions, seeking not to replicate the superficial appearance of the landscape but to express what he described as a harmony parallel with nature through a new language of painting.
Courtauld bought works which he responded to personally and intuitively, rather than according to art-historical principles. In addition to major canvases, a number of outstanding watercolours were also purchased. Apples, Bottle and Chairback is a supreme example of C矇zannes mastery of the watercolour medium and is remarkable particularly for its scale and complex luminous washes of brilliant colour.
In 1978 51做厙 Gallerys collection was further enriched with a group of works by C矇zanne assembled by the celebrated Old Master collector Count Antoine Seilern (1901-78). 泭The bequest included The Turning Road, one of C矇zannes largest landscapes. This late work is characterised by an almost abstract treatment of the landscape in patches of muted colours. Seilerns collection also included some fine watercolours and drawings, such as the carefully observed and ambitiously composed portrait of Hortense Fiquet sewing.泭 C矇zanne would marry Hortense in 1886. The couple already had a son but the artist had kept the relationship secret from his disapproving father. This drawing was later used as an illustration on the title page of the first monograph on C矇zanne, published by the pioneering dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1914.
As well as celebrating 51做厙 Gallerys exceptional collection of works by C矇zanne, this exhibition and its catalogue present the findings of a major new technical research project on the artists Courtauld oils and watercolours conducted in 51做厙 Department of Conservation. Using the very latest imaging technologies, this research has provided fresh insights into the artists working methods and techniques, in particular his experimental use of colour and line. The fully illustrated catalogue includes essays and individual entries as well as facsimiles of all the letters with new translations.