Using the Catalogue

The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne, an online catalogue raisonné is a work in progress and will be updated regularly. We hope the information below provides a deeper understanding of decisions that were made in creating this website, and that this will help you derive more from your experience.

When citing this Catalogue, please use the format in this example or as provided at the bottom of any entry page:

Société Paul Cezanne. "Madame Cezanne aux cheveux dénoués, 1885–86 (FWN 500)." The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné. http://cezannecatalogue.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=663 (accessed June 20, 2023).


 

Guide to the Catalogue

         

Numbering

The paintings in the catalogue are divided into five consecutive groups or themes: Landscape, Portrait, Figure Composition, Still Life, and Bather, and they are numbered chronologically within each theme. Single sheet works on paper are organized in the same groups, but with the addition of Figure Study and Page of Studies. They are also numbered loosely by date within each theme. The nineteen known sketchbooks are treated separately, each with its own master number and individual sheets linked to it.

Each work in the catalogue can be accessed by FWN (Feichenfeldt Warman Nash), Rewald painting or watercolor, Chappuis or Venturi number by entering it in the search box.

The letters "TA" after the catalogue number indicates that the work has been traditionally attributed to Paul Cezanne, but has not been physically examined by the authors. Therefore, a determination of a work's authenticity cannot be made until it has been inspected, at which time the “TA” designation can be removed. Several works that are new and unseen or that require further study are also included in this category.

Paintings and works on paper that have been omitted from Cezanne’s oeuvre have been examined by the authors and are, in their opinion, executed by another hand. These pictures are included in the concordance list, but they do not have their own entry page or FWN number. 

It is important to note that some works on paper may be reclassified as, for example, when missing sketchbook pages are identified. Both the old and new FWN number will be clearly indicated.

Please note that not all of the sketchbook pages listed in Venturi's 1936 catalogue have a V number, but are listed below the work that is reproduced in volume II. They have been recorded in this catalogue with an extension (i.e.,1605-01, 1605-02) for the purpose of retaining Venturi's sequence.

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Images

The authors have made every effort to provide a high-quality digital color image for each entry. In some cases only a black and white image exists because a work was destroyed or an owner could not be located. As new and better images are obtained, they will be added to the catalogue. Please note that we are not authorized to transmit our images to third parties.

Clicking on an image enlarges it and provides the option for additional selections. Zoom in using the magnify button or click on it once. After it is enlarged, click and drag the image to view other details of the picture.

All works can be rotated by clicking the rotation icon in the tool at the upper right. If there are several images to view on an entry, use the arrow keys or the arrow icons to the left and right of your screen. A thumbnail view is also provided by clicking the grid icon from the top right.

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Titles

The main titles in this catalogue are in French and retain in most cases those published in previous catalogues raisonnés. Some titles have changed, however, and are based on new research. Note, too, that the accent on the artist's surname has been removed from the main title to accord with new scholarship.The accent is only retained in a title if previously published with it.

Alternate titles are generated from other sources such as exhibition catalogues or publications. All of the works can be accessed by full or partial titles in the search bar.

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Dates

The dating of Cezanne’s oeuvre has varied over the years and remains a source of debate and speculation. As a result, the dates provided here include those of scholars, who have made recommendations for individual works, and are subject to change.

The Rewald date refers to those given in his 1983 watercolor and 1996 painting catalogues raisonnés; Venturi’s date refers to his 1936 oeuvre catalogue; “Venturi revised” refers to the date he intended to suggest in a revised edition of his earlier catalogue; the Chappuis date refers to his 1973 catalogue of the artist's drawings.

In addition, dates suggested by other scholars are mentioned when they have concerned themselves with the chronology of Cezanne’s oeuvre. 

Sorting the entire Catalogue by date will integrate all the works more or less chronologically, though as a result the numbers will not be consecutive.

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Provenance

The ownership history, past and current, is provided for each entry as far as it is known. In many cases the year of acquisition is included as well. Individual owners are linked to a listing of other works in their collections by clicking on their names. In a number of cases, the current location of a work is listed simply as “Private collection” out of consideration for the privacy of the owner.

The semi-colon that appears between the names of two consecutive owners indicates that, as far as is known, the work did not change hands in a commercial transaction, but was passed on as an inheritance or, in the case of a museum, as a gift or bequest.  A semi-colon also appears if a consignor to an auction is known.

Please note that auction houses and dealers are unable to provide us with a buyers' names. We therefore encourage owners to contact us directly so that our records are kept current. We confirm our policy not to divulge the names of owners without their permission.

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Exhibitions

Exhibitions appear in chronological order and each entry is connected to a listing of the entire show by clicking on the abbreviated form (year and city). The full exhibition listing may also include a PDF or a link to a digitized online archive. An exhibition is virtually “recreated” in color and can be viewed either as thumbnails or the works in relative size.

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Literature

Due to the sheer magnitude of the Catalogue, it is almost impossible to cite every bibliographic reference or illustration, especially in publications where Cezanne is represented in only a few instances. The authors have attempted to include those that are most relevant, and will continue to add references as they become known.

Click on the abbreviation to access the entire publication. In many cases, the work is linked to a digital archive that allows the user to view it in its original form.

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Vollard Archives

Entries from Ambroise Vollard’s three known stockbooks (A, B and C), a “virtual” stockbook (X) and an inventory (W) are recorded here. Many works can be identified by description and size, or from examining the verso of the work itself where the number often appears. If the picture was photographed by the dealer, its photo archive number is also listed.

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Supplemental Material

Many Catalogue entries include additional material such as studies, site photographs, vintage postcards and historical photographs, as well as related works by Cezanne and other painters and sculptors. Images of the works that inspired the artist to copy them, or paintings that are of the same subject by a contemporary of Cezanne are featured when possible.

All of the image types are shown by default. The images can be filtered to show only historical photographs, postcards, reproductions, site photographs, work by Cezanne, or work by other artists.

The authors retain additonal data (i.e. dealers’ stock numbers, condition reports, images of the versos or notes for further research), that is not published on the website, but that they are willing to provide at their discretion to a researcher. Please contact us to enquire about a work.

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Catalogue Concordance

The Catalogue Concordance is a complete list of Cezanne's oeuvre contained in the Catalogue.  The FWN number is matched with the corresponding Rewald, Chappuis and Venturi catalogue raisonné numbers.  The Concordance also features thumbnail images of all the works in the Catalogue. Click the links at the top of each column to arrange the concordance by FWN, Rewald, Chappuis or Venturi number.

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External Links

The authors are committed to providing the latest research from scholarly online resources and archives around the globe. External links to these sites add an independent and more narrative approach to the study of the artist. 

If you have a link you wish us to consider, please contact us.

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Filters

The Filter button appears on the upper left-hand corner of the Catalogue, Collections, Exhibitions, Literature, and Supplemental Material index pages.

Filters are a way to collect certain materials from the Catalogue and exclude whatever is not relevant to the set. (Keywords, a subset of the filter, are treated separately below.)

Filters on the Catalogue index page include Theme, Decade, and Classification; filters on the Collections index page include collection type, whether a work is currently owned or not, lists of early collectors and artist collectors; filters on the Exhibitions index page include exhibition type, venue, date; filters on the Literature index page include literature type, author, date, etc.

When a filter is selected, it immediately delimits the field that is visible below it. More than one filter can be selected, and each time the field is further delimited.

Filtered results appear with a string of filters indicated across the top of the page along with the number of results in the chosen array. 

A Permalink also appears which enables returning to the selected group without having to repeat all the steps again.

Removing the filters at the top of the page brings back the full index.

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Keywords

Keywords are specifically “keyed” to the subject matter of individual works (i.e., subjects, objects, locales, techniques, etc. and can be accessed by entering a word or words in the Search box (for example, ("sucrier" or "Madame Cezanne"). Keywords are also indicated with the individual catalogue entries.

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Slideshows

Click an image singly, or from any array, to open a slideshow. A magnifying glass icon needs to appear when hovering for the image to trigger a slideshow. Slideshows can’t be opened from the Catalogue index page.

All slideshows open to fit the screen regardless of which viewing option you begin with. A “magnifier” appears when the slideshow opens. Move left or right using the graphical arrows on either side of the screen, or use the computer’s left and right arrow keys. Use the “esc” key to close the slideshow.

On a Catalogue entry page, slideshows can be activated from a number of different points, assuming there’s more than one image to be accessed: from the main image; from one of the related works; from one of the supplemental images; by clicking on images found in the filters; or by clicking on images found in the keywords.

Slideshows can also be opened from a Collection page, an Exhibition page (with pertinent supplementary materials included), a Literature page, or from the Supplementary Images pages.

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Bookmarks

Bookmark an artwork, a collection, an exhibition, or a published reference from the index pages or on the entry page itself by clicking on the icon.

View all of the bookmarks saved in a given section by going to the index page for that section and clicking on the link to the right of the sorting funtion. Filter or sort bookmarks as with any other entries on those index pages. If a link does not appear, then there are no bookmarks saved in that section.

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Searches

The Search box at the upper right is for searching a single section only. The box can be toggled to search through other sections on the website. For more complex searches however, use the advanced search link.

A quick search of the works in the Catalogue searches by title, keyword, or catalogue number. A quick search of the Collections searches by owner/institution name, or city (for countries use the filters). A quick search of the Exhibitions searches by venue, title, city, or year (for countries use the filters). A quick search of the Literature searches by author, title, publisher, journal, newspaper name, or year of publication. A quick search of the Vollard Archives searches by archive entry number, or descriptive text.

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Printing

Most every section of the Catalogue can be printed by clicking on the icon at top right. Individual Catalogue entries include the complete provenance, exhibition and published reference information. A collection, exhibition or publication can be printed in various formats: in thumbnail, relative size or list view. The correct citation for the Catalogue appears at the bottom of the printed page and includes the date the entry was accessed.

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