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Lot Essay
By contrasting undulating and rectilinear forms in this delicately rendered watercolor, and hinting at the outlines of shapes rather than coloring them in, Cézanne creates an almost abstract effect. The arching shapes of the trees in the background resemble the mountainous peaks in Chinese landscape painting, with their suggestion of endless vistas. However, by anchoring these rhythmic arabesques in the rectangular walls seen in the middle ground, Cézanne affirmed a more solid sense of distance and space.
Lionello Venturi thought that the structure along the riverbank was a lock; John Rewald noted that Adrien Chappuis, the author of the Cézanne drawings catalogue raisonné, was inclined to agree. Rewald observed that "The wall is interrupted by a shelter for boats; some darker washes indicate a protective barrier open toward the right" (op. cit.). The presentation of this unusual motif demonstrates that Cézanne was moving towards the more disembodied and floating appearance that is characteristic of many of his late landscape watercolors. He would explore a subject for its formal contrasts, while showing less interest in its conventional picturesque qualities. Forms have been suggested rather than defined. Cézanne continued to analyze the spatial relationships between elements in the landscape from direct visual observation; he increasingly replied upon a more deeply intuitive understanding of the fundamental forms that he witnessed in nature, resulting in the creation of a pictorial reality that parallels rather then describes nature.
Lionello Venturi thought that the structure along the riverbank was a lock; John Rewald noted that Adrien Chappuis, the author of the Cézanne drawings catalogue raisonné, was inclined to agree. Rewald observed that "The wall is interrupted by a shelter for boats; some darker washes indicate a protective barrier open toward the right" (op. cit.). The presentation of this unusual motif demonstrates that Cézanne was moving towards the more disembodied and floating appearance that is characteristic of many of his late landscape watercolors. He would explore a subject for its formal contrasts, while showing less interest in its conventional picturesque qualities. Forms have been suggested rather than defined. Cézanne continued to analyze the spatial relationships between elements in the landscape from direct visual observation; he increasingly replied upon a more deeply intuitive understanding of the fundamental forms that he witnessed in nature, resulting in the creation of a pictorial reality that parallels rather then describes nature.