The Plate of Apples

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

The lozenge-shaped pattern of the wallpaper identifies the setting for this still life as the Paris apartment where Paul Cezanne and his family lived between 1875 and 1879. Here, the artist disrupted expectations for painting at the time by tipping the tabletop and plate forward toward the viewer and constructing a table with edges that don’t quite align. These disorienting details are complemented by the heavy, almost sculptural forms he created by using a pointed tool—possibly the end of his brush handle—to incise contours into semi-dry paint around the plate and some of the apples.

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