Art fans have a new reason to visit New York this winter: Madame Cézanne, the first exhibition of paintings, drawings, and watercolors by Paul Cézanne of his most painted model (and wife), Hortense Fiquet, will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on November 19.
The exhibition, we hear, will trace Cézanne’s lifelong attachment to Fiquet, who "profoundly influenced" his portrait practice for more than two decades.
Madame Cézanne will feature 24 of the 29 known portraits of Hortense Fiquet that Cézanne painted over a period of more than 20 years, including Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory (1891) and Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress (1888–90), both from the Metropolitan Museum’s collection.
Highlights of the painted portraits in Madame Cézanne will include Madame Cézanne in a Red Armchair (ca. 1877) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Madame Cézanne (ca. 1885) from the private collection on loan to Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie, Museum Berggruen in Berlin; Portrait of Madame Cézanne (ca. 1885–87) from the Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portrait of Madame Cézanne in a Striped Dress (1883–85) from Japan’s Yokohama Museum of Art; Madame Cézanne in Blue (ca. 1888–90) from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Highlights of the works on paper will include three watercolors, 14 drawings, and three rare sketchbooks with studies of Hortense and young Paul.
The exhibition will run from November 19–March 15, 2015.