The Château Noir was a rambling house situated in extensive grounds near Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. Surrounded by wild vegetation, the run-down, isolated chateau offered Cezanne many subjects, and it became one of his favourite locations. He rented a small room in the house from 1897 to 1902, and continued to paint in the grounds until his death in 1906.
In his final years Cezanne was increasingly drawn to harsh landscapes untouched by human intervention. We are looking here at a group of trees growing along a remote rocky ridge on a hill north-east of the house. The diagonal slope of the hill is so steep that the rocks seem close to tumbling out of the frame. Dense woodland that writhes up from the rocks forms a screen that almost blocks out the sky, which we only glimpse towards the top of the picture as areas of pale blue. The picture’s generally sombre colours contribute to its somewhat oppressive, even claustrophobic atmosphere.
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.
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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