loading loading

Catalogue entry

FWN 602-TA
Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola
1869–70
Alternate titles: Alexis et Zola; Emile Zola et Alexis; Emile Zola et Paul Alexis; Le portrait d'Emile Zola et de Paul Alexis; Paul Alexis leyendo a Zola; Paul Alexis lisant à Zola; Paul Alexis lisant unmanuscrit à Emile Zola; Paul Alexis Reading to Emile Zola; Paul Alexis Reading to Zola; Portrait de Zola et d'Alexis se faisant la lecture; Portraits of Emile Zola and Paul Alexis; Zola and Alexis; Zola et Alexis
Rewald (151): 1869–70; Venturi revised: c.1870; Venturi (117): 1869–70; Cooper: 1869–70; Gowing: (Edinburgh) 1869–70; Ratcliffe: between September 1869 and July 1870
Oil on canvas
51 3/16 x 63 in. (130 x 160 cm)

Keywords

Provenance
Émile Zola, Médan
M. Helm, Le Vesinet
Paul Rosenberg, Paris
Wildenstein Galleries, Paris, London, and New York
Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
Exhibition History
1931c New York
Knoedler Galleries, New York, Pictures of People, 1870–1930, April 6–18, 1931, no. 5, ill., as Portraits of Emile Zola and Paul Alexis, lent by Wildenstein & Co.
1931 Detroit
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Modern French Painting, May 22–June 30, 1931, no. 17, ill. lent by Wildenstein.
1934 Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Cézanne, November–December 1934, no. 2, (dated c. 1863–65), as Zola and Alexis, lent by Wildenstein.
1935 San Francisco
San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, Opening Exhibition (Modern French Painting), 1935, no. 4, ill. lent by Wildenstein.
1935a London
Wildenstein Galleries, London, Nineteenth Century Masterpieces, May 9–June 15, 1935, no. 8, ill.
1936c Paris
Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, Cézanne, May 20–October 11, 1936, no. 178, as Alexis et Zola, lent by Wildenstein; dated circa 1868.
1938 Columbus
Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts, Columbus, Ohio, Relationships between French Literature and Paintings in the Nineteenth Century, 1938, no. 9.
1938b New York
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Great Portraits from Impressionism to Modernism, March 1–29, 1938, no. 3, pl. 1.
1939 Lyon
Musée de Lyon, Palais Saint-Pierre, Lyon, France, Centenaire de Paul Cézanne, May 7–June 18, 1939, no. 8, lent by Wildenstein.
1939b Paris
Société des artistes indépendants, Grand Palais, Paris, 50e exposition - Centenaire du peintre indépendant Paul Cézanne, March 17–April 10, 1939, no. 5, as Zola et Alexis, lent by Wildenstein.
1939d London
Wildenstein Galleries, London, Homage to Paul Cézanne, July 1939, no. 8, lent by Wildenstein.
1947b New York
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Cézanne, March 27–April 26, 1947, no. 3, ill. lent by Wildenstein.
1950 Minneapolis
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, The Art of Cézanne, January 7–February 5, 1950, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola, lent by Wildenstein.
1951 London
Wildenstein Galleries, London, Masterpieces: Festival of Britain 1951, May 31–July 14, 1951, no. 16, ill.
1952 Chicago and traveling
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings, A Loan Exhibition, February 7–March 16, 1952, no. 14, ill. lent by São Paulo. Traveled to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 1–May 16, 1952.
1953c Paris
Orangerie, Paris, Monticelli et le baroque provençal, June 19–September 15, 1953, pl. XXX, as Alexis et Zola, no catalogue entry, illustration only.
1953–54 Paris and traveling
Orangerie, Paris, Chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée d'Art de São Paulo, October 10, 1953–January 1954, no. 3, ill. Traveled to: Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, January 14–February 28, 1954; Utrecht Centraal Museum, March 6–May 2, 1954; Berner Kunstmusuem, Bern, Switzerland, May 8–June 7, 1954; Tate Gallery, London, June 19–August 15, 1954; Palazzo reale, Milan, November 1954–February 1955.
1954 Utrecht
Utrecht Centraal Museum, Utrecht, the Netherlands, Meesterwerken uit São Paulo, March 6–May 2, 1954, no. 46, ill.
1954 Edinburgh and traveling
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Paintings by Cézanne, August 20–September 18, 1954, no. 6, as Paul Alexis lisant à Zola, lent by the Museum of Art, São Paulo. Traveled to: Tate Gallery, London, September 29–October 27, 1954.
1957c New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Paintings from the São Paulo Museum of Art, March 21–June 2, 1957, no. 45, ill., with detail.
1974 Tokyo and traveling
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Cézanne, March 30–May 19, 1974, no. 6. Traveled to: Municipal Museum, Kyoto, Japan, June 1–July 17, 1974; Cultural Center, Fukuoka, Japan, July 24–August 18, 1974.
1984 Madrid
Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Paul Cézanne, March 9–April 1984, no. 4, ill.
1986 Tokyo and traveling
Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Cézanne, September 18–October 7, 1986, no. 5, ill. lent by Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Traveled to: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe, Japan, October 10–November 9, 1986; Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery, Nagoya, Japan, November 15–December 4, 1986.
1987–88 Verona and traveling
Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy, Da Manet a Toulouse-Lautrec, July 4–September 27, 1987, no number, ill., pp. 120–24. Traveled to: Serrone della Villa Reale, Monza, Italy, October 7–December 6, 1987; Villa Croce, Genova, Italy, December 17, 1987–February 21, 1988.
1988–89a London and traveling
Royal Academy of Arts, London, Cézanne: The Early Years 1859–1872, April 22–August 21, 1988, no. 47, ill. shown in Paris and Washington, D.C. only. Traveled to: Musée d'Orsay, Cézanne: les années de jeunesse 1859-1872, Paris, September 19, 1988–January 1, 1989; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., January 29–April 30, 1989.
1993 Tübingen
Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany, Cézanne Gemälde, January 16–May 2, 1993, no. 6, ill.
1994–95 Paris and traveling
Grand Palais, Paris, Impressionnisme: Les origines, 1859–1869, April 19–August 8, 1994, no. 30, p. 349, fig. 265. Traveled to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Origins of Impressionism, September 19, 1994–January 8, 1995.
2000 Vienna and traveling
Kunstforum, Vienna, Cézanne: Vollendet unvollendet, January 20–April 25, 2000, no. 1, ill., as Paul Alexis Reading to Emile Zola. Traveled to: Kunsthaus, Zürich, May 5–August 13, 2000 (initially planned to end on July 30 the exhibition was extended until August 13).
2011–12 Paris
Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, Cézanne et Paris, October 12, 2011–February 26, 2012, no. 15, ill., p. 39, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola, lent by MASP, São Paulo.
2015 Sao Paulo
Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo Assis Chateaubriand - MASP, Sao Paulo, Arte da França: de Delacroix a Cézanne, July 17–November 8, 2015.
2017 Paris
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Cézanne Portraits, June 13–September 24, 2017, no. 11, ill.
2017–18 Paris and traveling
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, Cézanne Portraits, June 13–September 24, 2017, no. 3.3, ill. Traveled to: National Portrait Gallery, London, October 26, 2017–February 11, 2018; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C, March 25–July 1, 2018.
Published References
C. 1929
C. "Ein unbekanntes Bild von Cézanne." Kunst und Künstler 27, no. 9 (1929), p. 364, ill.
Gasquet 1930b
Gasquet, Joachim. Cézanne. Berlin: B. Cassirer, 1930, ill. opp. p. 8.
Parnassus 1931
"On View in the New York Galleries." Parnassus 3, no. 4 (Apr. 1931), p. 3, ill.
Neugass 1931a
Neugass, Fritz. "Paul Cézanne." Creative Art 9, no. 4 (October 1931), p. 275, ill.
Iavorskaia 1935b
Iavorskaia, Nina. Paul Cézanne. Milan: Hoepli, 1935, pl. IV.
Cogniat 1936
Cogniat, Raymond. "Cézanne Intime." Le Monde illustré (Paris) (June 6, 1936), p. 483, ill. Coll. Georges Wildenstein.
Faure 1936
Faure, Élie. Cézanne. Paris: Editions Braun, 1936, pl. 3.
Flament 1936
Flament, Albert. "Tableaux de Paris: Peinture." La Revue de Paris (Paris) (September 1936), p. 950, as Le portrait d'Emile Zola et de Paul Alexis.
Guenne 1936
Guenne, Jacques. "Paul Cézanne et le drame de la peinture." L'Art vivant (Paris), no. 204 (1936), ill. p. [155].
Laprade 1936
Laprade, Jacques de. "L'exposition Cézanne à l'Orangerie." Beaux-arts: Chronique des arts et de la curiosité, no. 177 (May 22, 1936), ill. p. 1, as Zola et Alexis.
Rydbeck 1936
Rydbeck, Ingrid. "Apropå Cézanne." Konstrevy (Stockholm) XII, no. 5 (1936), ill. p. 136, as Alexis et Zola.
Huyghe 1936b
Huyghe, René. "Cézanne et son oeuvre." L'Amour de l'art 17, no. 5 (May 1936), fig. 43 p. 168, as Emile Zola et Paul Alexis, c. 1869.
Venturi 1936b
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne: Son Art, Son Oeuvre. Paris: Editions Paul Rosenberg, 1936, no. 117, ill. vol. II, as Paul Alexis lisant à Zola.
Rewald 1936e
Rewald, John. Cézanne et Zola. Paris: Editions A. Sedrowski, 1936, fig. 21.
Art News 1936a
"Cezanne's Paintings and Watercolors Exhibited in Fine One Man Loan Show at the Paris Orangerie." The Art News XXXIV, 39 (Aug. 15, 1936), p. 6, ill., as Alexis et Zola.
Vollard 1937
Vollard, Ambroise. Souvenirs d'un marchand de tableaux. Paris: Albin Michel, 1937, pl. 12.
Rewald 1937a
Rewald, John. "A propos du catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre de Paul Cézanne et de la chronologie de cette œuvre." La Renaissance (Paris), vol. 20, nos. 3-4 (March–April 1937), p. 54, as Portrait de Zola et d'Alexis se faisant la lecture.
Davidson 1938
Davidson, Martha. "Impressionist and Later Portraits." Art News Vol. 36, Issue 23 (March 5, 1938), p. 10, ill.
Barnes and de Mazia 1939
Barnes, Albert C., and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Cézanne. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939, no. 12, ill. p. 155 (analysis p. 312).
Le Blond-Zola 1939
Le Blond-Zola, Denise. "Jeunesse de deux hommes de génie: la vérité sur l'amitié de Cézanne et de Zola." Ce soir (Paris), May 17, 1939, ill. p. 4, as Emile Zola et Alexis, c. 1868.
Cogniat 1939a
Cogniat, Raymond. Cézanne. Paris: Pierre Tisné, 1939, pl. 20.
Rewald 1939c
Rewald, John. Cézanne, sa vie, son œuvre, son amitié pour Zola. Paris: Albin Michel, 1939, fig. 24.
Dorival 1948
Dorival, Bernard. Cézanne. Paris: Pierre Tisné, 1948, pl. 26, listed p. 146.
Rewald 1948b
Rewald, John. Paul Cézanne: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948, fig. 31.
Rewald 1950a
Rewald, John. Cézanne. London: Phoenix House, 1950, fig. 22.
Sargent 1952
Sargent, Winthrop. "Cézanne: The Great Paintings of a Frustrated Recluse Changed the Whole Course of Modern Art." Life 32, no. 8 (February 25, 1952), p. 88, ill., detail.
Storey 1952
Storey, Benjamin. "Retrospettiva Cézanne." Emporium 115, no. 689 (May 1952), p. 197, ill.
Schapiro 1952a
Schapiro, Meyer. Cézanne. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1952, p. 9, ill.
Art et Style 1954
Bardi, P.M. and Hélène Adhémar. Art et Style. 30, L'art français au Musée d'art de Sao-Paulo. Paris, 1st trimester 1954, ill. in b/w (n.p.), as Paul Alexis lisant unmanuscrit à Emile Zola, c. 1870.
Bardi 1954
Bardi, Pietro Maria. "Paintings at São Paulo Museu de Arte." Connoisseur 133 (March 1954), p. 17, ill.
Raynal 1954
Raynal, Maurice. Cézanne. Geneva: Skira, 1954, p. 28, ill.
Adhémar 1960
Adhémar, Jean. "Le cabinet de travail de Zola." Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 56, periode 6 (November 1960), p. 287, fig. 5 p. 288.
Rewald 1961
Rewald, John. The History of Impressionism. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1961, p. 201, ill.
Taillandier 1961
Taillander, Yvon. P. Cézanne. Milan: Antonio Vallardi, 1961, p. 11.
Beucken 1962
Beucken, Jean de. Cézanne. New York: Viking Press, 1962, p. 41, ill.
Lindsay 1969a
Lindsay, Jack. "Cézanne and Zola." Art and Artists 4, no. 6 (September 1969), p. 23, detail.
Schapiro 1973
Schapiro, Meyer. Paul Cézanne. Translated by Louis-Marie Ollivier. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Françaises, 1973, p. 33, ill.
Sutton 1974
Sutton, Denys. "The Paradoxes of Cézanne." Apollo (London) 100, no. 150 (August 1974), fig. 7 p. 101.
Elgar 1975
Elgar, Frank. Cézanne. New York: Praeger, 1975, fig. 20.
Venturi 1978
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne. Geneva: Skira, 1978, p. 15, ill.
Monneret 1978a
Monneret, Sophie. Cézanne, Zola . . . La fraternité du génie. Paris: Denoël, 1978, ill. p. 39.
Monneret 1978b
Monneret, Sophie. L'Impressionnisme et son époque: dictionnaire international illustré. Paris: Denoël, 1978, vol. 1, ill. p. 38.
Adriani 1980
Adriani, Götz. Paul Cézanne: 'Der Liebeskampf'. Munich: Piper, 1980, p. 14, ill. C.
Ponente 1980
Ponente, Nello. Paul Cézanne. Bologna: Capitol, 1980, p. 31, ill.
Plazy 1981
Plazy, Gilles. Cézanne. Fribourg: Editions Medea, 1981, p. 25.
Harris 1982
Harris, Nathaniel. The Art of Cézanne. London: Optimum Books, 1982, p. 29, ill. in color.
Bonafoux 1986
Bonafoux, Pascal. Les Impressionnistes portraits et confidences. Geneva: Skira, 1986, p. 21, ill.
Pickvance and Takumi 1986
Pickvance, Ronald, and Hideo Takumi. Cézanne. Tokyo: Tokyo Shimbun, 1986. Exhibition catalogue, p. 29, pl. 5.
Thomas 1987
Thomas, Denis. The Age of the Impressionists. Middlesex, U.K.: Holiday House, 1987, p. 155, ill.
Kendall 1988
Kendall, Richard, ed. Cézanne: By Himself. London: Macdonald, 1988, p. 29, ill.
Lévêque 1988
Lévêque, Jean Jacques. La Vie et l'oeuvre de Paul Cézanne. Courbevoie: ACR, 1988, p. 27, ill. in color.
Plazy 1988
Plazy, Gilles. Cézanne ou la peinture absolue. Paris: Editions Liana Levi, 1988, p. 23, ill. in color.
Lewis 1989
Lewis, Mary Tompkins. Cézanne's Early Imagery. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989, p. 138.
Gasquet 1991
Gasquet, Joachim. Joachim Gasquet's Cézanne. Translated by C. Pemberton. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 1991, p. 92, ill.
Naubert-Riser 1992
Naubert-Riser, Constance. Cézanne. London: Studio Editions, 1994, p. 53.
Verdi 1993a
Verdi, Richard. "Tübingen: Cézanne." The Burlington Magazine 135, no. 1081 (April 1993), fig. 52 p. 295, as Paul Alexis Reading to Zola.
Arrouye 1995
Arrouye, Jean. Cézanne: Paris, Provence. Paris: Textuel, 1995, p. 71, ill.
Cachin and Rishel 1995
Cachin, Françoise, and Joseph Rishel. Cézanne. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1995. Exhibition catalogue, p. 25, il.
Patin 1995
Patin, Sylvie. Cézanne. Paris: Editions Hazan, 1995, p. 11.
Cahn 1995b
Cahn, Isabelle. Paul Cézanne. Paris: Somogy Editions d'Art, 1995, p. 51, ill.
Rewald 1996
Rewald, John. The Paintings of Paul Cézanne, A Catalogue Raisonné, 2 vols. In Collaboration with Walter Feilchenfeldt and Jayne Warman. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996, no. 151, ill. vol. 2 and p. 28, ill. col. vol. 1, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola.
Klemm 1999
Klemm, Christian. "Paul Cézanne 'Paul Alexis liest Zolar vor.'" In Manet, Zola, Cézanne: Das Porträt des Modernen Literaten. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje, 1999. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 1.
Benesch 2000
Benesch, Evelyn. "From the Incomplete to the Unfinished: Realisation in the Work of Paul Cézanne." In Cézanne: Finished, Unfinished. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2000. Exhibition catalogue, p. 43, fig. 1, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola.
Stoichita 2000
Soichita, Victor I. "L'oeuvre, la cabeza, el ventre." Arte y Parte: revista de arte (Madrid) 30 (December 2000-January 2001), ill. p. 49, as Paul Alexis leyendo a Zola.
Mori 2002
Mori, Gioia. "'La letteratura si esprime con astrazioni mentre il pittore concretizza.' Gli scrittori di Cézanne: Zola, Balzac e Flaubert." In Cézanne: Il padre dei moderni. Milan: Mazzotta, 2002. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 86.
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer 2003
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. Cézanne and Provence: The Painter in His Culture. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 2003, p. 90, fig. 2.40, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola.
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer 2004
Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. "Cézanne and His Friends at Jas de Bouffan." In Jas de Bouffan: Cézanne, Société Paul Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence: Hexagone, 2004, fig. 27, ill. in color.
Tosini 2005
Tosini, Aurora Scotti. "Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)." In Cézanne, Renoir. Milan: Skira, 2005. Exhibition catalogue, p. 49, ill.
Feilchenfeldt 2005b
Feilchenfeldt, Walter. "Cézannes Sammler. Von Zola bis Annenberg." In "By Appointment Only": Schriften zu Kunst und Kunsthandel, Cézanne und Van Gogh. Wädenswil: Nimbus, 2005, p. 164, ill.
Machotka 2008
Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: The Eye and the Mind, 2 vols. Marseille: Editions Crès, 2008, vol. 1, fig. 63; vol. 2, p. 59, as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola.
Mitterand 2011
Mitterand, Henri. "Une fraternité d'artistes: Cézanne et Zola." In Cézanne et Paris. Paris: Éditions de la Rmn-Grand Palais, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 39, ill., as Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola.
Cézanne 2013
Cézanne, Paul. The Letters of Paul Cézanne. Edited and translated by Alex Danchev. London and Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson; Getty Publications, 2013, p. 145, ill.
Dombrowski 2013
Dombrowski, André. Cézanne, Murder, and Modern Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013, pl. 9.
Rubin 2013
Rubin, James. "Amitiés et théories: Courbet/Proudhon, Cézanne/Zola ou comment Cézanne connu Courbet." In Courbet/Cézanne, La vérité en peinture. Lyon: Fage éditions, 2013. Exhibition catalogue, p. 43, fig. 1.
Kitschen 2015
Kitschen, Friederike. "Auf der dunklen Seite der Moderne." Review of Cézanne, Murder, and Modern Life. Kunstchronik 68, no. 2 (February 2015), p. 82.
Mitterand 2016
Mitterand, Henri. Paul Cézanne, Émile Zola, Lettres croisées, 1858–1887. Paris: Gallimard, 2016, fig. 9, dated 1869–70.
Guégan 2017
Guégan, Stéphane. "Bienheureux Cézanne, Retour sur les années 1860." In Paul Cezanne, Le chant de la terre. Martigny: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2017. Exhibition catalogue, p. 53, fig. 6.
Clark 2022
Clark, T.J. If These Apples Should Fall, Cézanne and the Present. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 2022, pl. 66.
Notes

Painted out of doors in Zola's garden on the rue La Condamine. The work was unfinished presumably because Cézanne and Zola returned to the Midi after the declaration of war (Franco-Prussian) in mid-July 1870.

Record last updated November 9, 2023. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Société Paul Cezanne. "Paul Alexis lisant à Émile Zola, 1869–70 (FWN 602-TA)." In The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=159 (accessed on March 28, 2024).