A Table Corner (Un coin de table)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Cezanne's friend Émile Zola, a writer, defined a work of art as "a corner of nature seen through a temperament." A Table Corner witnesses Cézanne's intent to paint his immediate sensations of things, rather than their objective reality. The artist allegedly said that he saw the planes of objects overlapping; here, he achieved this effect partly by rhythmically arranging warm- and cool-colored fruits on the tabletop and a white plate. Note how the artist demarcates the slashed pomegranate from its neighboring fruits by a seemingly solid shadow; the folding screen reiterates the table's corner while also disturbing the spatial relationships between itself, the table, and the wall.

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