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The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne
An Online Catalogue Raisonné under the Direction of Société Paul Cezanne
(Formerly directed by Walter Feilchenfeldt, Jayne Warman and David Nash)
Catalogue entry
FWN 745
Un dessert
1877–79
Alternate titles: Cantuccio di tavola; Dessert; Ein Dessert; Nature morte; Still life; Still Life with a Dessert; Still Life, A Dessert; Stilleben; The Dessert
Rewald (337): 1877–79; Venturi revised: c.1877; Venturi (197): 1873–77
Oil on canvas
23 3/16 x 28 11/16 in. (59 x 73 cm)
Signed lower right in red: P. Cezanne.
Provenance
Victor Chocquet, Paris;
Mme veuve Chocquet (née Marie Buisson) (1891);
Chocquet Collection, Galerie G. Petit, Paris, July 1–4, 1899, no. 17
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris
Wildenstein Galleries, Paris, London, and New York
Mr.and Mrs. Carroll S. Tyson, Philadelphia;
Philadelphia Museum of Art (1963)
Exhibition History
1877 Paris
6, rue Le Peletier, Paris, Troisième exposition de peinture, opening April 4, 1877, no. 17, 18 or 19, as Nature morte.1902a Paris
Société des artistes indépendants, Grandes serres de l'Exposition universelle (Cours-la-reine), Paris, 18e exposition, March 29–May 5, 1902, no. 321, tentative identification, as Nature morte.1904a Weimar
Grossherzoglichen Museum für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe, Weimar, Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cézanne, March 1904, Durand-Ruel (not for sale).1905 London
Grafton Galleries, London, Pictures by Boudin, Cézanne, Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, January 16-February 18, 1905; extended until February 25, no. 39, ill., (dated 1878), as Dessert.1908 Paris
Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, Exposition de natures mortes par Monet, Cézanne, Renoir, etc., April 21–May 1908, no. 13, (dated 1878), as Un dessert.1908b Berlin
Paul Cassirer, Berlin, XI. Jahrgang, Winter 1908/1909, II. Ausstellung, October 15–November 8, 1908, no. 20, as Ein Dessert.1917 Zurich
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Französische Kunst des XIX. und XX. Jahrhunderts, October 5–November 14, 1917, no. 22, ill., (dated 1878), as Un dessert, lent by Durand-Ruel.1923c Paris
Chambre syndicale de la Curiosité, 18, rue de la Ville-l'Evêque, Paris, L'Art français au service de la science française, April 25–May 15, 1923, no. 163, as Un dessert, lent by Durand-Ruel.1924a Paris
Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, Exposition Paul Cézanne (au profit de la caisse du monument Cézanne), March 3–24, 1924.1925 Vienna
Secession, Vienna, 82. Ausstellung der Secession: Die führenden Meister der französischen Kunst im neunzehnten Jahrhundert., March 6–April 26, 1925, no. 85, ill., as Stilleben, lent by Durand-Ruel.1928d New York
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Paul Cézanne, January 1928, no. 3, as Nature morte, lent by M/M Tyson.1928 Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Inaugural Exhibition, March 1928, lent by Tyson.1934 Philadelphia
Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Cézanne, November 10–December 10, 1934, no. 23, ill., (dated c. 1885), as Still life, lent by Private collection, Philadelphia.1947b New York
Wildenstein Galleries, New York, Cézanne, March 27–April 26, 1947, no. 10, ill. lent by Tyson.1947 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Masterpieces of Philadelphia Private Collections, May 20–September 15, 1947, no. 11.1983 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Cézanne in Philadelphia Collections, July 19–August 21, 1983, no. 4, ill. lent by Philadelphia Museum.2009 Philadelphia
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Cézanne and Beyond, February 26–May 17, 2009, pl. 78, p. 252, as Un dessert.2014–15 Paris and traveling
Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, Paul Durand-Ruel: Le Pari de l'Impressionnisme, October 9, 2014–February 8, 2015, no. 5, fig. 128 (shown in Philadelphia only). Traveled to: National Gallery, London, March 4–May 31, 2015; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, June 24–September 13, 1915.Published References
Dewhurst 1903
Dewhurst, Wynford. "Impressionist Painting. Its Genesis and Development." Studio (London) 39, no. 121 (April 1903), p. 168, ill.Mauclair 1903
Mauclair, Camille. The French Impressionists. London: Duckworth & Co., 1903, p. 149, ill., as Dessert.Pica 1908
Pica, Vittorio. Gl'Impressionisti Francesi. Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche, 1908, p. 197, ill., as Cantuccio di tavola.Duret 1919
Duret, Théodore. Histoire des peintres impressionnistes: Pissarro, Claude Monet, Sisley, Renoir, Berthe Morisot, Cézanne, Guillaumin. Paris: H. Floury, 1919, pl. 14.Fénéon 1920
F.[énéon], F.[élix]. "Les grands collectionneurs: II. - M. Paul Durand-Ruel." Le Bulletin de la vie artistique 1, no. 10 (April 15, 1920), ill. p. 269, as Un dessert.Klingsor 1923
Klingsor, Tristan L. Cézanne. Paris: Rieder, 1923, pl. 6.Rivière 1923
Rivière, Georges. Le Maître Paul Cézanne. Paris: Librairie Floury, 1923, ill. opp. p. 182, as Nature morte.Denis 1924
Denis, Maurice. "Le dessin de Cézanne." L'Amour de l'art 5, no. 2 (February 1924), ill. p. 40, as Un dessert, (Coll. Durand-Ruel).Venturi 1936b
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne: Son Art, Son Oeuvre. Paris: Editions Paul Rosenberg, 1936, no. 197, ill. vol. II, as Un dessert.Matisse 1945
Matisse, Henri. "De la couleur." Verve IV, 13 (December 1945), p. 9.Rewald 1948b
Rewald, John. Paul Cézanne: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948, fig. 71.Rewald 1950a
Rewald, John. Cézanne. London: Phoenix House, 1950, fig. 54.Raynal 1954
Raynal, Maurice. Cézanne. Geneva: Skira, 1954, p. 42, ill.Rewald 1954b
Rewald, John. "The Collection of Carroll S. Tyson, Jr, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Connoisseur 134 (September 1954), p. 68, ill. p. 65.Beucken 1955
Beucken, Jean de. Un portrait de Cézanne. Paris: Gallimard, [1955], p. 147.Gazette des beaux-arts 1964
"[Aquisitions des musées du monde entier]." La Chronique des arts: supplément à la Gazette des beaux-arts, no. 1141 (February 1964), p. 71, no. 233, ill., as Un dessert.Jayne 1964
Jayne, Horace. "Tyson Collection: A Painter's Eye on Masterworks." ARTNews 63, no. 5 (September 1964), p. 30, ill., as The Dessert.Rewald 1964
Rewald, John. "The Collection of Carroll S. Tyson, Jr, Philadelphia, U.S.A." Bulletin of the Philadelphia Museum of Art 59, no. 280 (Winter 1964), p. 73, ill.Murphy 1968
Murphy, Richard W. The World of Cézanne, 1839–1906. New York: Time-Life Books, 1968, p. 134.Rewald 1969
Rewald, John. "Chocquet et Cézanne." Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 74, periode 6 (July–August 1969), pp. 50, 55-56, fig. 17 p. 57; p. 83, no. 17.Flam 1973
Flam, Jack. Matisse on Art. New York: Phaidon, 1973, p. 101.Venturi 1978
Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne. Geneva: Skira, 1978, p. 22, ill.Monneret 1981
Monneret, Sophie. L'Impressionnisme et son époque, vol. 4. Paris: Denoël, 1981, p. 157, ill. hanging in Durand-Ruel dining room (photograph erroneously dated 1896).Rewald 1986d
Rewald, John. "Chocquet and Cézanne." In Studies in Impressionism, Edited by Irene Gordon and Frances Weitzenhoffer. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986, p. 147, fig. 79, as Still Life, A Dessert.Verdi 1992
Verdi, Richard. Cézanne. London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 1992, p. 84, fig. 70.Kitschen 1995
Kitschen, Friederike. Cézanne: Stilleben. Ostfildern-Ruit: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1995, fig. 30.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. 337, ill. vol. 2, as Un dessert.Lewis 2000
Lewis, Mary Tompkins. Cézanne. London: Phaidon, 2000, p. 180, fig. 113.Elderfield 2009
Elderfield, John. "Picasso's Extreme Cézanne." In Cézanne and Beyond. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Haven: In association with Yale University Press, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, p. 252, pl. 78, as Still Life with a Dessert, dated 1877 or 1879.Hirsh 2009
Hirsh, Jennie. "For the Love, and Fear, of Painting: Cézanne, Morandi, and Italian Modernism." In Cézanne and Beyond. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Haven: In association with Yale University Press, 2009. Exhibition catalogue, p. 352, ill., p. 252, pl. 78, as Still Life with a Dessert, dated 1877 or 1879.Echte and Feilchenfeldt 2013c
"Kollektion Lovis Corinth: Ausstellung 'Stilleben': 15. Oktober bis 10. November 1908." In Kunstsalon Cassirer: Die Ausstellungen 1908-1910 vol. 4, "Ganz eigenartige neue Werte". Wädenswil: Nimbus, 2013, p. 44, ill.Rishel 2015
Rishel, Joseph J. "The Critical Fortunes of Paul Durand-Ruel." In Inventing Impressionism, Paul Durand-Ruel and Modern Art Market. London, 2015. Exhibition catalogue, p. 199, fig. 128.Warman 2015
Warman, Jayne. "Chocquet und Cézanne – eine einzigartige Freundschaft." In Victor Chocquet – Freund und Sammler der Impressionisten, Renoir, Cézanne, Monet, Manet. Bern and Munich: Bundesamt für Kultur and Hirmer Verlag, 2015. Exhibition catalogue, p. 105, pl. 63.Notes
Scholars seem to agree that the still life was painted in the rue de Rivoli apartment belonging to the collector Victor Chocquet, but the date of execution has differed. Cézanne met the collector in Paris in late 1875, left for the Midi in April 1976 and returned to Paris in early September 1876. The painting was exhibited in the Third Impressionist exhibiton, which opened in April 1877, and bears a red signature like most of the other works by the artist shown. It would seem, then, that the still life was executed between September 1876 and April 1877. But had he completed the work to his satisfaction? Léo Marchutz advanced the notion that Cézanne reworked the still life after the Third Impressionist exhibition, based on his observation that the edges of the canvas were more thinly painted than the heavy impasto of the central area. (See Rewald, 1996, p. 227)
Henri Matisse recalled seeing this painting in one of the Indépendants exhibitions (probably 1902): "I can still hear old Pissarro exclaiming at the "Indépendants," in front of a very fine still-life by Cézanne representing a cut crystal water carafe in the style of Napolean III, in a harmony of blue: 'It's like an Ingres.'
When my surprise passed, I found, and I still find, that he was right. Yet Cézanne spoke exclusively of Delacroix and of Poussin." (H. Matisse, Observations on Painting, 1945, quoted in Flam, 1973, p. 101)
Record last updated June 8, 2023. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Société Paul Cezanne. "Un dessert, 1877–79 (FWN 745)." In The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. www.cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=333 (accessed on May 1, 2025).
