Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune (1888-1890)

Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906)

Madame Cézanne au fauteuil jaune (Madame Cézanne in a Yellow Chair)
18881890
Oil on canvas, 80.9 × 64.9 cm
Art Institute of ChicagoChicago

This portrait is one in a series of four Paul Cézanne made of his wife, Marie-Hortense Fiquet, whom he met when she worked as an artist’s model. They had a son together in 1872 and married in 1886. Technical examination suggests that Cézanne traced this image, the second in the series, from the first portrait, which he made from life. In contrast to her masklike expression, Hortense’s hands are agitated, contorted by crisscrossing brushstrokes and the dark-blue outlines Cézanne used to sketch out the forms, which remain visible in the final work. (AIC)

See also:

• Fiquet Cézanne, Marie-Hortense (1850-1922)