Two Cezannes and a Redon

One of the brilliant juxtapositions I stumbled upon (well, not literally) @ the Met this trip was this pairing of portraits, an early and a late Cezanne. The first, done when Cezanne was in his mid-20s, the other, when he was in his 50s. You can't really see the difference in the brushwork in these photos (though the larger versions you can see if you click on these thumbnails are a little better) - in the first the paint looks almost as if it had been laid on with a trowel, the other much more traditionally - but even in these small photos it's clear to me that the male portrait was done by someone with something to prove, the female by someone confident in his ability and position.

Interesting, too, is the way the first, despite its unorthodox paint application, is still fairly traditional in its more literal portrayal of the facial features while the second almost abstractly renders them. The first with its lack of background - or at least emphasis on the figure by placing it in a mono-chrome setting, is much more confrontational than the other, set as if in a garden. And to hang the two of them side by side, what a brilliant juxtaposition and what a treasure to have a collection where the curators can pick and choose in this way.


The third is a Redon painting, one of my favorite artists, that hangs outside the Wisteria room @ the Met, a discovery I happened upon this last visit and hadn't been aware of before. It's a lot like Whistler's Peacock room @ the Freer Gallery on the Mall in DC (Be sure to click on the The Peacock Room online brochure link to see more photos of it.), an entire room decorated around a single theme, but unfortunately it was so dimly lit, I imagine for preservation purposes, that none of my photos were worth keeping.


So now it's off to do something - stitich? tootle? Had a wonderful Alexander lesson this AM and my teacher treated me to some sweet (literally and figuratively) strawberries that are now marinating in sugar. Perfectly ripe every single one.