1896, Paul Cezanne, Gustave Geffroy -- National Gallery of Art (Washington) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: The Parisian critic Geffroy defended Cézanne’s work in a widely read article of 1894, marking the beginning of critical appreciation for the artist, who painted the writer’s portrait in gratitude. Although Geffroy sat almost daily for three months, Cézanne grew frustrated with the painting and stopped working on it, never fulfilling his promise to return to the face, which he considered unfinished. The setting, on the other hand, is one of the most elaborate of his portraits: Geffroy posed in his own apartment, surrounded by a restless array of books, furniture, flower vase, and a plaster statuette by Auguste Rodin, partly visible at far left. The sitter wrote of his portrait, “In spite of its unfinished state, it is one of Cézanne’s most beautiful works . . . Everything is first rate . . . with incomparable harmony. He had only sketched in the face and would always say, ‘We’ll leave that for the end.’ Sadly there was no end.”
1896, Paul Cezanne, Gustave Geffroy -- National Gallery of Art (Washington) (special exhibition)
From the exhibition label: The Parisian critic Geffroy defended Cézanne’s work in a widely read article of 1894, marking the beginning of critical appreciation for the artist, who painted the writer’s portrait in gratitude. Although Geffroy sat almost daily for three months, Cézanne grew frustrated with the painting and stopped working on it, never fulfilling his promise to return to the face, which he considered unfinished. The setting, on the other hand, is one of the most elaborate of his portraits: Geffroy posed in his own apartment, surrounded by a restless array of books, furniture, flower vase, and a plaster statuette by Auguste Rodin, partly visible at far left. The sitter wrote of his portrait, “In spite of its unfinished state, it is one of Cézanne’s most beautiful works . . . Everything is first rate . . . with incomparable harmony. He had only sketched in the face and would always say, ‘We’ll leave that for the end.’ Sadly there was no end.”