Paul Cezanne, 'An Old Woman with a Rosary', about 1895-6

An Old Woman with a Rosary

Paul Cezanne

Room 44

About the work

Overview

A old women, her gaze unfocused, clutches a rosary – a string of beads used in prayer – tightly in her hands. According to the writer Joachim Gasquet, the sitter was a former nun who had escaped from a convent, wandering aimlessly until Cezanne took her on as a servant.

Gasquet found this painting in 1896 at Cezanne’s family house near Aix-en-Provence, lying on the floor of the artist’s studio with a pipe dripping on it. The lower left-hand corner is marked by splashed water or steam.

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Full title: An Old Woman with a Rosary
Artist: Paul Cezanne
Artist dates: 1839 - 1906
Date made: about 1895-6
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 80.6 × 65.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1953
Inventory number: NG6195
Location: Room 44
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century French Frame

Provenance

Joachim Gasquet. At some time before 1910 stated to have belonged to Henry Bernstein, but this is unlikely. With the Galeries Emile Druet, Paris, by February, 1910. By 1917 in the possession of Jacques Doucet. Still in the possession of his widow in 1947. Purchased through César de Hauke out of the Grant‐in‐Aid and the Florence, Temple West, Clarke, Hornby‐Lewis and Champney Funds, 1953.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, with additions and some revisions by Cecil Gould, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, etc.’, London 1970; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2012

Cézanne and the Past: Tradition and Creativity

Szépművészeti Múzeum

25 October 2012 - 17 February 2013
2017

Cézanne Portraits

Musée d'Orsay

13 June 2017 - 24 September 2017

National Portrait Gallery (London)

26 October 2017 - 11 February 2018

National Gallery of Art (Washington DC)

25 March 2018 - 8 July 2018
2020

Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London

The National Museum of Western Art

18 June 2020 - 18 October 2020

The National Museum of Art

3 November 2020 - 31 January 2021
2021

Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London

National Gallery of Australia

5 March 2021 - 14 June 2021

Bibliography

1896

J. Gasquet, 'Juillet', Les Mois Dorés, 1896
1909

P. Adam, Dix ans d'art français, Paris 1909
1910

C.J. Holmes, Notes on the Post-Impressionist Painters at the Grafton Galleries, 1910-11, London 1910
1910

M. Denis, 'Cézanne, II', The Burlington Magazine, XVI/83, 1910, pp. 275-80
1914

A. Vollard, Paul Cézanne, Paris 1914
1930

J. Gasquet, Cézanne, Paris 1930
1932

P. Jamot, 'French Painting, II', The Burlington Magazine, LX/346, 1932, pp. 2-72
1936

L. Venturi, Cézanne: Son art, son oeuvre, Paris 1936
1948

B. Dorival, Cézanne, Paris 1948
1954

'Editorial: National Gallery and Tate Gallery Bill', The Burlington Magazine, XCVI/610, 1954, pp. 2-4
1955

The National Gallery, The National Gallery: 1938 - 1954, London 1955
1957

Martin Davies, National Gallery Catalogues: French School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1957
1959

J. Rewald, Cézanne, Geffroy et Gasquet: Suivi de souvenirs sur Cézanne de Louis Aurenche et de lettres inédites, New York 1959
1960

P. Hendy, 'Cézanne's "La Vieille au Chapelet"', The Listener, 1960
1962

T. Reff, 'Cézanne, Flaubert, St. Anthony, and the Queen of Sheba', Art Bulletin, XLIV/2, 1962, pp. 113-25
1963

M.W. Brown, The Story of the Armory Show, New York 1963
1963

National Gallery, Acquisitions 1953-62, National Gallery Catalogues, London 1963
1970

Davies, Martin, and Cecil Gould, National Gallery Catalogues: French School: Early 19th Century, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc., London 1970
1977

T. Reff, 'Painting and Theory in the Final Decade', in W. Rubin (ed.), Cézanne: The Late Work, New York 1977, pp. 38-44
1978

P.M. Doran, Conversations avec Cézanne, Paris 1978
1982

D. Sutton, 'Sir Claude Phillips: First Keeper of the Wallace Collection', Apollo, CXVI/249, 1982, pp. 322-32
1989

J. Rewald, Cézanne and America: Dealers, Collectors, Artists and Critics, 1891-1921, London 1989
1995

F. Cachin et al., Cézanne (exh. cat. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 25 September 1995 - 7 January 1996; Tate Gallery, 8 February - 28 April 1996; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26 May - 18 August 1996), Paris 1995
1996

J. Rewald, W. Feilchenfeldt and J. Warman, The Paintings of Paul Cézanne: A Catalogue Raisonné, London 1996
1997

G. Cavalli-Björkman, Cézanne i blickpunten (exh. cat. Nationalmuseum, 17 October 1997-11 January 1998), Stockholm 1997
2000

M.T. Lewis, Cézanne, London 2000
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2006

C. Riopelle, Manet to Picasso, London 2006
2006

A. Dumas and N. Ireson, Cézanne in Britain, (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 4 October 2006 - 7 January 2007), London 2006
2008

E. Reissner, 'Ways of Making: Practice and Innovation in Cézanne's Paintings in the National Gallery', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XXIX, 2008, pp. 4-30

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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