Terracotta Pots and Flowers (Pots en terre cuite et fleurs)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Cézanne painted Terracotta Pots and Flowers during the winter of 1891–92, in the greenhouse of his family estate in Provence. Geraniums and rhododendrons grow from the pots and rise to the top of the picture plane, as if toward pale winter sunlight. Their vertical network of leaves compresses the already shallow space; a single fallen bloom adds a note of melancholy. Here, Cézanne successfully translates a three-dimensional subject into a two-dimensional one while balancing lyrical movement with monumental nature.

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