The Vase of Tulips

c. 1890

Typical of Cezanne’s work, this painting is carefully considered and the composition hard-won: the traces of at least three other pieces of fruit at lower left attest to Cezanne's struggles to make the arrangement work. Even in the final version, there remains a tense spatial relationship between the objects, which seem to float in the picture plane rather than being anchored to the tabletop.

Public domain · CC0
Free to download and reuse. Image courtesy of Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist

Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906)

Date

c. 1890

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

59.6 × 42.3 cm (23 1/2 × 16 5/8 in.); Framed: 84.5 × 67 × 10.2 cm (33 1/4 × 26 3/8 × 4 in.)

Origin

France

Collection

Art Institute of Chicago

Credit

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial Collection