About the Exhibition
This tightly curated exhibition charted a thematic and chronological sweep of Paul Cézanne’s still-life painting, showing how the "Master of Aix" recast the genre and set it on a new course. Traversing the breadth of his still-life production—from early paintings engaging with past masters to very late works unique to him, and treating a range of themes including apples, flowers, and skulls—this select gathering of paintings offered viewers a brief reappraisal of Cézanne’s monumental achievement in this genre.
Cézanne’s art remains central to enduring concerns of art making, touching on materiality and representation as well as on the interpretive foundations of art history itself. Comprising 23 Cézanne masterpieces, The World Is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne sought to render succinctly the richness and novelty of still lifes created by an artist of rare intuition and unerring aesthetic sensibility.
Curated by Benedict Leca, director for curatorial affairs, Art Gallery of Hamilton. Coordinating curator for the Barnes Foundation was Judith F. Dolkart, deputy director of art and archival collections and Gund Family Chief Curator.
Additional venue: Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, November 1, 2014–January 31, 2015.
The Barnes collection contains 69 works by Cézanne, including 16 still lifes, all of which were on display during the exhibition.
Sponsors
The exhibition at the Barnes Foundation was sponsored by:
The contributing sponsor was:
Generous support was also provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Margaret and Tom Whitford, an Anonymous donor, Bruce and Robbi Toll, Constance and Sankey Williams, an Anonymous donor, the Oliver Family Foundation, Brooke J. Lenfest, and the Alter Family Foundation.
Funding for the Paul Cézanne audio guide of the Barnes Foundation permanent collection was generously provided by Lisa D. Kabnick and John H. McFadden.
This exhibition was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The exhibition was organized by the Art Gallery of Hamilton in Ontario, in a special collaboration with the Barnes Foundation. The exhibition was made possible with the generous support of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum and RBC Royal Bank.