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Paul Cézanne

On the Banks of a River (Au Bord d'une Rivière)
Now On View

Description

Maker

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906)

Title

On the Banks of a River (Au Bord d'une Rivière)

Year

ca. 1904-1905

Medium

  • Oil on canvas

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Oil on canvas

Materials

oil paint

Supports

  • canvas

Geography

Place Made: France

Dimensions

61 x 73.7 cm (24 x 29 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Marks: In the upper center of the frame, in light writing can be seen "B X 1 [?)] [illegible] 1 3"[?].At the upper right on brown paper or tape, "I P" [?] and other letters or numbers are written upside down in graphite. At lower left, there are possibly the remains of a label and some white and dark varnish or glue.In the lower left corner, there are the highly yellowed remains of a label with a curved, double blue line border, ripped off.To the right of this there are more label remains. On the stretcher, in the upper left corner is written in red ink the accession number "43.255."Below that there is written "8" in red and to the right of that "23."Moving towards the center, also in red, is written "113/4/59/[horizontal underline] /703/4."To the right in upside down graphite, "DR #3" is written and encircled.At upper center, possibly in black chalk, "360 [; or 1] 44"[?] is written.In the upper right corner, "1977.779" is written in graphite.At center right there is rubbed off chalk.At lower center, written in hot pink chalk, "B [could be an 8] - 9" is written.On the horizontal brace, at left, there are substantial abrasions in the wood. To the right of this scratching is written the accession number "43.255" and then in blue and underlined twice, "11291." At the center of the horizontal brace, there is a blue "PH" and below it an illegible number that appears to have been three numerals encircled, possibly "484"[?].Beneath this number are the faint remains of a brown circular stamp, possibly with an "N." At right there are four numbers in a rectangular box that appear to be an upside down "1461" [?].At the top of thevertical brace, there appears incised, "No [o underlined] 7 [?]" all of which is underlined.Beneath this writing there is a brown circular stamp with writing along the border at top and bottom and in the center; at top, there are two illegible letters followed by "...UANE"[?]; there are two lines of writing in the center, the second line of which has an "...RIS"; at bottom, along the border, is printed "...ENTRALE". In the center of the vertical brace, "4475" is written vertically.On the canvas in the upper right quadrant, there is a brownish circular stamp: "...OUANE / [illegible] / PARIS /CENTRALE."At the center left of the canvas, obscured by the horizontal brace, there is an oval stamp with three lines of text, the center line of which says "CHAB [or R?]..."

Label: In the upper right corner of the stretcher, there is a faded pink label with serrated edges on two sides, on which is written in black or blue cursive "CezanneNO. 5331/Bords d'un Riviere [partially scratched out]."To the right of this there is a small white rectangular label with serrated borders on which appears, "Museum of Modern Art/ LOAN/ Providence /1977.79."On the horizontal brace, at right there is a rectangular label on which is written in black, "D15911 / Cezanne / Bords d'une riviere / 1900-1905."To the right of that, there is a rectangular label on which "1461" printed.In the center of the upper of the vertical brace, there is a grayed rectangular label on which is printed "...5" [?]with black scribble over but not obscuring the top. Below this there is a yellowed circular label with a red serrated border on which is written in lowercase script , "m i 3."

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum Special Reserve Fund

Object Number

43.255

Type

  • Paintings

Projects & Publications

Publications

  • Books

A Handbook of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design

  • Books

European Paintings and Sculpture, ca. 1770 - 1937

  • Books

Exchange Exhibition, Exhibition Exchange: From the Collection of Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University; From the Collection of The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

  • Books

Selected Works

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

European Galleries
Sep 02, 2017

Label copy

In this late, unfinished painting, Cézanne used blocks of color to construct the armature of a landscape. Likely working outdoors, he mapped the village with squares and triangles and used parallel strokes of orange and brown to indicate a cargo-laden barge. A solid, curved structure at right marks a bend in the river, whose overlapping blue patches form a ribbon between the opposing banks. Lighter tones of blues and greens create mutual reflections in the water and the loosely drawn clouds. Cézanne’s working process is also evident in the foreground, where broad, multicolored patches indicate forms he had not yet defined.

Inventing Impressionism
Oct 21, 2016 – Jun 11, 2017

Label copy

In this late, unfinished painting, Cézanne used blocks of color to construct the armature of a landscape. Likely working outdoors, he mapped the riverside village with squares and triangles and used parallel strokes of orange and brown to indicate a cargo-laden barge. A solid, curved structure at right marks a bend in the river, whose overlapping blue patches form a ribbon between the opposing banks. Lighter tones of blues and greens create mutual reflections in the water and the loosely drawn clouds. Cézanne’s working process is also evident in the roughly conceived foreground, where broad, multicolored patches indicate forms that he had not yet defined.

Cubism and Its Affinities
Sep 01, 1995 – Dec 10, 1995
European Painting and Sculpture, circa 1770-1937
Oct 18, 1991 – Jan 26, 1992
Exchange Exhibition of Paintings from Rose Museum, Brandeis University
Feb 16, 1967 – Apr 02, 1967
  • More Exhibition History +

Use & Feedback

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This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Paul Cézanne (French, 1839-1906)
On the Banks of a River (Au Bord d'une Rivière), ca. 1904-1905
Oil on canvas
61 x 73.7 cm (24 x 29 inches)
Museum Special Reserve Fund 43.255

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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