Catalogue entry

FWN 649

L'Éternel Féminin; Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; La Belle Impéria

c.1877

Alternate titles: Apotheose; Das ewig Weibliche; Das Ewigweibliche; L'Éternel féminin; L'Éternel féminin ou Le Veau d'or; L'Éternel Féminin; also known as Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; or La Belle Impéria; La belle Impéria; La Femme; Le triomphe de la femme; Le Veau d'or; Nus – L'éternel féminin; The Eternal Feminine; The Eternal Feminine (L'éternel féminin)

Rewald (299): c.1877; Venturi revised: c.1877; Cézanne fils: 1877; Venturi (247): 1875–77; Rivière: 1877; Reff: after 1880; Machotka et al: 1880

Oil on canvas

17 11/16 x 20 7/8 in. (45 x 53 cm)

Vollard archives: photo no. 379, Annotated by Cezanne's son: 1877

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Keywords

Technique and Condition:
- parallel brush strokes »

Provenance

Ambroise Vollard, Paris

Auguste Pellerin, Paris;

Jean-Victor Pellerin, Paris

Wildenstein Galleries, Paris, London, and New York

Stavros S. Niarchos, Paris (1954)

Wildenstein Galleries, New York

Harold Hecht, Beverly Hills (by 1959)

Private collection, New York (1970)

Wildenstein Galleries, New York (1973)

Mrs. John Goulandris, New York

Galerie Beyeler, Basel

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (1987)

Exhibition History

1899b Paris

Galerie Vollard, Paris, Paul Cézanne, November 15–December 1899, no. 6, as La belle Impéria.

1907a Paris

Salon d'Automne, Grand Palais, Paris, Rétrospective d'oeuvres de Cézanne, October 1–22, 1907, no. 5, as Le Veau d'or, lent by Pellerin.

1935 Brussels

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, L'Impressionnisme, June 15–September 29, 1935, no. 10, as L'Éternel féminin, lent by J.V. Pellerin.

1936c Paris

Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, Cézanne, May 20–October 11, 1936, no. 37, as L'Éternel féminin, lent by Pellerin.

1939d London

Wildenstein Galleries, London, Homage to Paul Cézanne, July 1939, no. 16, lent by Pellerin.

1947b New York

Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Cézanne, March 27–April 26, 1947, no. 13, ill. lent by Wildenstein.

1952 Chicago and traveling

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Cézanne: Paintings, Watercolors & Drawings, A Loan Exhibition, February 7–March 16, 1952, no. 23, lent by Wildenstein. Traveled to: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, April 1–May 16, 1952.

1953 Mexico City

Instituto Francés de la America Latina, Mexico City, Cien Años de pintura francesa, 1953, no. 22.

1953–54 New Orleans

Isaac Delgado Museum, New Orleans, Masterpieces of French Painting through Five Centuries, 1400–1900, October 17, 1953–January 10, 1954, no. 80, as L'Éternel féminin, c. 1875-77, lent Anonymously.

1954–55 Paris

Orangerie, Paris, Van Gogh et les peintres d'Auvers-sur-Oise, November 26, 1954–February 28, 1955, no. 13, as L'Éternel féminin, c. 1873.

1957–58 New York and traveling

Knoedler Galleries, New York, The Niarchos Collection, December 3, 1957–January 18, 1958, no. 6, ill. Traveled to: National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, February 5–March 2, 1958; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 15–April 20, 1958.

1959 Zurich

Kunsthaus, Zurich, Sammlung S. Niarchos, 1959, no. 30, pl. 20.

1959e New York

Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Loan Exhibition: Cézanne, November 5–December 5, 1959, no. 11, ill. lent by Hecht.

1963a London

Wildenstein Galleries, London, The French Impressionists and Some of Their Contemporaries, April 24–May 18, 1963, no. 21, ill. lent by Wildenstein.

1989 Basel

Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland, Paul Cézanne: Die Badenden, September 10–December 10, 1989, no. 29, pp. 92–96, pl. 49, p. 82 (detail).

1993 Tübingen

Kunsthalle, Tübingen, Germany, Cézanne Gemälde, January 16–May 2, 1993, no. 12, ill.

1995–96 Paris and traveling

Grand Palais, Paris, Cézanne, September 26, 1995–January 14, 1996, no. 42, ill. Traveled to: Tate Gallery, London, February 8–April 28, 1996; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, May 26–September 1, 1996.

2000–01 Cologne and traveling

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Faszination Venus: Bilder einer Göttin von Cranach bis Cabanel, October 14, 2000–January 7, 2001, no. 72, ill., as Das Ewigweibliche. Traveled to: Alte Pinakothek, Munich, February 1–April 22, 2001; Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Venus: vergeten mythe, voorstellingen van een godin van Cranach tot Cézanne, Antwerp, Belgium, May 20–August 15, 2001.

2001 Munich

Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Venus: Bilder einer Göttin, March 1–April 22, 2001, no. 40, ill., as Das Ewigweibliche.

2006–07 New York and traveling

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, September 14, 2006–January 7, 2007, no. 29, fig. 33, pp. 32, 337, as L'Éternel Féminin; also known as Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; or La Belle Impéria. Traveled to: The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, February 17–May 13, 2007; Musée d'Orsay, Paris, June 19–September 16, 2007.

2008 Humlebæk

Louisiana Museum of Art, Humlebæk, Denmark, Cézanne & Giacometti: Paths of Doubt, February 20–June 29, 2008, no. 6, ill. p. 173, as L'Éternel féminin, lent by Getty Museum.

2011–12 Paris

Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, Cézanne et Paris, October 12, 2011–February 26, 2012, no. 44, ill., p. 91, as L'Éternel féminin ou Le Veau d'or, 1877, lent by Getty Museum.

2012 Tokyo

National Art Center, Tokyo, Cézanne: Paris-Provence, March 28–May 11, 2012, no. 47, ill.

2015–16 Minneapolis and traveling

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, October 18, 2015–January 16, 2016, no. 19, ill. Traveled to: National Gallery, London, February 17–May 22, 2016.

2017–18 Karlsruhe

Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe, Germany, Cézanne - Metamorphosen, October 28, 2017–February 11, 2018, no. 8, ill.

2022–23 Chicago and traveling

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Cezanne, May 15–September 5, 2022, no. 13, ill. Traveled to: Tate Moderrn, London, October 6, 2022–March 12, 2023.

Published References

Vollard 1917

Vollard, Ambroise. "Cézanne's Studio." The Soil 1, no. 3 (March 1917), ill. between pp. 106 and 107.

Coquiot 1919

Coquiot, Gustave. Paul Cézanne. Paris: Ollendorf, 1919, pp. 212–13, as Le triomphe de la femme.

Rivière 1923

Rivière, Georges. Le Maître Paul Cézanne. Paris: Librairie Floury, 1923, pp. 204, 205, listed twice.

Vollard 1923

Vollard, Ambroise. Paul Cézanne: His Life and Art. Translated by Harold L. van Doren. New York: Nicholas Brown, 1923, ill. opp. p. 64.

Fry 1926

Fry, Roger. "Le développement de Cézanne." L'Amour de l'art 7, no. 12 (December 1926), ill. p. 417, as Apotheose.

Fry 1927a

Fry, Roger. Cézanne: A Study of His Development. New York: Macmillan, 1927, p. 84, fig. 49, pl. XXX.

Gasquet 1928

Gasquet, Joachim. Cézanne: 24 phototypies. Paris: Librairie de France, [1928], [pl. 6], as Le triomphe de la femme.

Raynal 1936

Raynal, Maurice. Cézanne. Paris: Editions de Cluny, 1936, pl. XXII p. 49.

Venturi 1936b

Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne: Son Art, Son Oeuvre. Paris: Editions Paul Rosenberg, 1936, no. 247, ill. vol. II, as L'Éternel féminin.

Rewald 1936e

Rewald, John. Cézanne et Zola. Paris: Editions A. Sedrowski, 1936, fig. 22.

Barnes and de Mazia 1939

Barnes, Albert C., and Violette de Mazia. The Art of Cézanne. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1939, no. 62, p. 180, ill. (analysis p. 324).

Dorival 1948

Dorival, Bernard. Cézanne. Paris: Pierre Tisné, 1948, pl. VI, listed p. 176.

Florisoone 1952

Florisoone, Michel. "Van Gogh et les peintres d'Auvers chez le Dr. Gachet." L'Amour de l'art 31, nos. 64-66 (November, 1952), p. 20, ill.

Fry 1952

Fry, Roger. Cézanne: A Study of his Developement. London: Hogarth Press, 1952, p. 84, pl. XXX fig. 49, as La Femme.

Beucken 1955

Beucken, Jean de. Un portrait de Cézanne. Paris: Gallimard, [1955], p. 139.

Badt 1956

Badt, Kurt. Die Kunst Cézannes. Munich: Prestel, 1956, p. 215.

Hess 1957

Hess, Walter. "Zum Bild des Menschen in der Kunst Cézanne." Die Kunst und das schöne Heim, no. 9 (June 1957), p. 33, ill.

Werner 1957

Werner, Alfred. "The Niarchos Treasures at Knoedler's." Art in America 45, no. 3 (Fall 1957), p. 62, ill.

Reff 1960b

Reff, Theodore. "A New Cézanne Exhibition." The Burlington Magazine 102, no. 684 (March 1960), pp. 114, 117.

Beucken 1962

Beucken, Jean de. Cézanne. New York: Viking Press, 1962, p. 61, ill.

Reff 1962c

Reff, Theodore. "Cézanne's Constructive Stroke." Art Quarterly 25, no. 3 (Autumn 1962), pp. 217, 221, fig. 1.

Cachin 1964

Cachin, Françoise. "Cézanne et Delacroix." Art de France 4 (1964), pp. 341–43.

Lichtenstein 1964a

Lichtenstein, Sara. "Cézanne and Delacroix." The Art Bulletin 46, no. 1 (March 1964), fig. 7.

Badt 1965

Badt, Kurt. The Art of Cézanne. Translated by Sheila Ann Ogilvie. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1965, pp. 278, 291.

Lichtenstein 1967

Lichtenstein, Sara. "A Sheet of Cézanne's Copies after Delacroix." Master Drawings, vol. 5, no. 2 (Summer 1967), p. 185, fig. 4, as L'Éternel féminin.

Ramuz 1968

Ramuz, Charles Ferdinand. Cézanne Formes. Lausanne: International Art Book, 1968, pl. 7.

Schapiro 1968

Schapiro, Meyer. "The Apples of Cézanne: An Essay on the Meaning of Still-Life." Art News Annual 34 (1968), p. 49, pl. 18.

Brion 1971

Brion, Marcel. Cézanne. Milan: Fratelli Fabbri, 1971, ill. p. 31.

Huyghe 1971

Huyghe, René. Impressionism. London: Bracken Books, 1971, p. 230.

Cherpin et al. 1972

Cherpin, Jean et al. "L'Oeuvre gravé de Cézanne." Arts et Livres de Provence (Marseille) 82 (1972), ill. p. [56], as L'Éternel féminin.

Dellis 1972

Dellis, Max. "'L'Eternel Féminin' de Cézanne." Arts et Livres de Provence (Marseille) 81 (1972), pp. 7-10, ill.

Schapiro 1973

Schapiro, Meyer. Paul Cézanne. Translated by Louis-Marie Ollivier. Paris: Nouvelles Editions Françaises, 1973, p. 45, ill.

Elgar 1975

Elgar, Frank. Cézanne. New York: Praeger, 1975, fig. 34.

Adriani 1980

Adriani, Götz. Paul Cézanne: 'Der Liebeskampf'. Munich: Piper, 1980, pp. 51-52, pl. 4.

Boime 1980

Boime, Albert. Thomas Couture and the Eclectic Vision. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1980, ill. XIII.30, as The Eternal Feminine.

Wetenhall 1982

Wetenhall, John. "Cézanne's 'Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves.'" Pantheon, Internationale Zeitschrift für Kunst 40, no. 1 (January–March 1982), fig. 4, as The Eternal Feminine, c. 1877, Private collection, Lausanne.

Rewald 1986b

Rewald, John. Cézanne: A Biography. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986, p. 115, ill.

Krumrine 1988

Krumrine, Mary Louise. "Parisian Writers and the Early Work of Cézanne." In Cézanne: The Early Years. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1988. Exhibition catalogue, fig. 19.

Düchting 1989

Düchting, Hajo. Paul Cézanne: Natur wird Kunst. Cologne: Benedict Taschen Verlag, 1989, p. 79, ill.

Andersen 1990

Andersen, Wayne V. "Cézanne's L'Éternel Féminin and the Miracle of Her Restored Vision." Journal of Art 3, no. 3 (December 1990), pp. 43–44, ill.

Hoog 1990

Hoog, Michel. "L'Oeuvre." In Sainte-Victoire Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence: Musée Granet, 1990, p. 200, fig. 179.

Coutagne 1990c

Coutagne, Denis. "Cézanne, tradition et modernité." In Sainte-Victoire: Cézanne. Aix-en-Provence: Musée Granet, 1990, p. 84, figs. 30 and 189 (detail).

Krumrine 1992

Krumrine, Mary Louise. "Cézanne's 'Restricted Power': Further Reflections on the 'Bathers.'" The Burlington Magazine 134, no. 1074 (September 1992), fig. 10 and fig. 11 (detail) p. 587, as L'Éternel féminin.

Kendall 1993a

Kendall, Richard, ed. Cézanne & Poussin: A Symposium. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993, pl. 35.

Bonafoux 1995

Bonafoux, Pascal. Cézanne: portrait. Paris: Editions Hazan, 1995, p. 154, ill.

Krumrine 1995

Krumrine, Mary Louise. "Du plongeon aux baigneuses." Dossier de l'art (Dijon), no. 25 (September - October 1995), ill. p. 59.

Sollers 1995

Sollers, Philippe. Le Paradis de Cézanne. Paris: Gallimard, 1995, p. 84, ill.

Doschka et al. 1996

Doschka, Roland et al. "Das Ewig Weibliche - L'Eternel Féminin." In Das Ewig Weibliche - L'Eternel Féminin: von Renoir bis Picasso. Munich: Prestel, 1996. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 8, as L'Éternel féminin, 1875.

Garb 1996

Garb, Tamar. "Visuality and Sexuality in Cézanne's Late Bathers." Oxford Art Journal 19, no. 2 (1996), p. 56, fig. 13.

Machotka 1996

Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: Landscape into Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996, p. 11, fig. 3, as L'Éternel féminin.

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. 299, ill. vol. 2, as L'Éternel Féminin; also known as Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; or La Belle Impéria.

Harvey 1998

Harvey, Benjamin. "Cézanne and Zola: A Reassessment of 'L'Eternel féminin.'" Burlington, vol. 140, no. 1142 (May 1998), p. 313, fig. 19 (details pp. 314, 317, 318, figs. 20, 23, 27).

Lewis 2000

Lewis, Mary Tompkins. Cézanne. London: Phaidon, 2000, p. 145, fig. 93.

Mai 2001

Mai, Ekkehard. "Entzauberung und Mystifikation: Wechselbilder der Venus-Olympia von Cabanel bis Cézanne." In Faszination Venus: Bilder einer Göttin von Cranach bis Cabanel. Cologne: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Snoeck - Ducaju & Zoon, 2000. Exhibition catalogue, p. 194, fig. 15, as Das Ewigweibliche.

Platzman 2001

Platzman, Steven. Cézanne: The Self-Portraits. Berkeley: University of California, 2001, p. 102, 35, 200, fig. 34, as L'Éternel Féminin; also known as Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; or La Belle Impéria.

Ballas 2002

Ballas, Guila. Cézanne: baigneuses et baigneurs: thème et composition. Paris: Adam Biro, 2002, ill. pp. 22, 268 (detail), fig. c (detail) p. 266, p. 310, no. 264, ill., as L'Éternel féminin, c. 1877.

Benedetti 2002

Benedetti, Maria Teresa. "Cézanne: le idee, la mostra." In Cezanne: Il padre dei moderni. Milano: Mazzotta, 2002. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 27.

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. 87, fig. 2.36, as L'Éternel Féminin; also known as Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; or La Belle Impéria.

Andersen 2004

Andersen, Wayne V. Cézanne and the Eternal Feminine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 13, figs. 6, 7 and 8 (detail).

Armstrong 2004

Armstrong, Carol. Cézanne in the Studio: Still Life in Watercolors. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2004. Exhibition catalogue, p. 88, fig. 35, as The Eternal Feminine.

Adriani 2005

Adriani, Götz. "Eine Moderne Olympia." In Bordell und Boudoir. Schauplätze der Moderne: Cézanne, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso. Ostfildern-Ruit: Hatje Cantz, 2005. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 82, as Das ewig Weibliche.

Dittmann 2005

Dittmann, Lorenz. Die Kunst Cézannes: Farbe, Rythmus, Symbolik. Cologne: Böhlau, 2005, p. 142, ill. in b/w.

Jensen 2006

Jensen, Robert. "Vollard and Cézanne: An Anatomy of a Relationship." In Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Exhibition catalogue, p. 32, fig. 33, as The Eternal Feminine.

Kear 2006

Kear, Jon. "'Frenhofer: c'est moi': Cézanne's Nudes and Balzac's 'Le Chef-d-oeuvre inconnu.'" The Cambridge Quarterly 35, no. 4 (2006), p. 353, fig. 3.

Coutagne 2011b

Coutagne, Denis. "Le Femme exposée." In Cézanne et Paris. Paris: Éditions de la Rmn-Grand Palais, 2011. Exhibition catalogue, p. 91, ill., as L'Éternel féminin ou Le Veau d'or.

Coutagne 2011d

Coutagne, Denis. Cézanne abstraction faite. Paris: Les Editions du Cerf, 2011, p. 184, fig. 126.

Colrat 2013

Colrat, Jean. Cézanne: Joindre les mains errantes de la nature. Paris-Sorbonne: PUPS, 2013, p. 182, pl. 75.

Dombrowski 2013

Dombrowski, André. Cézanne, Murder, and Modern Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013, p. 227, fig. 92.

Rey 2013

Rey, Xavier. "Courbet, Cézanne: Le nu en question." In Courbet/Cézanne: La vérité en peinture. Lyon: Fage éditions, 2013. Exhibition catalogue, p. 95, fig. 7.

Athanassoglou-Kallmyer 2014

Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Nina M. "Cézanne in the Studio." In The World Is an Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne. Hamilton, Ontario: Art Gallery of Hamilton, 2014. Exhibition catalogue, p. 231, fig. 21, as The Eternal Feminine (L'éternel féminin).

Machotka 2014

Machotka, Pavel. Cézanne: Landscape into Art. Prague: Arbor Vitae, 2014, p. 31, fig. 3, as L'Éternel féminin, dated 1880.

Coutagne 2017

Coutagne, Denis. "Courbet/Cézanne: la vérité en peinture." In Cézanne and the past : tradition and creativity [international symposium, Budapest, Museum of Fine Arts, 28 January 2013]. Budapest: Museum of Fine Arts, 2017, fig. 4.

Marchesseau 2017

Marchesseau, Daniel. Paul Cezanne, Le chant de la terre. Martigny: Fondation Pierre Gianadda, 2017. Exhibition catalogue, p. 296, ill.

Dauberville 2020

Dauberville, Guy-Patrice, and Floriane Dauberville. Paul Cezanne chez Bernheim-Jeune. Paris: Editions G-P.F. Dauberville & Archives Bernheim-Jeune, 2020, no. 258, ill., as Nus – L'éternel féminin.

Related work

Record last updated July 20, 2022. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.

Citation: Société Paul Cezanne. "L'Éternel Féminin; Le Veau d'or; Le Triomphe de la femme; La Belle Impéria, c.1877 (FWN 649)." In The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=297 (accessed on April 25, 2024).