Saturday, October 07, 2006
Lac d’Annecy
I first saw the paintings at the Courtauld Institute when they were still in their old location, stuck out of the way on the top floors of the Warburg Institute building. I went unprepared for the shock of so many outstanding works, in these grey, unimpressive surroundings but the one moment I will never forget was seeing Cézanne’s Lac d’Annecy (1896). Richard Verdi (in Cézanne) has described this painting, simple in form but highly complex in its prismatic colours, ‘with no two strokes of blue or green appearing exactly the same in size hue or direction’. Verdi notes, for example, that ‘while house and château on the distant shore are clearly delineated, the landscape around them appears in an inchoate state, as though still awaiting further resolution.’ This illustrates a general feature of the artist’s approach: rather than distinguishing foreground from background through the degree of detail applied to forms, Cézanne concentrated attention on objects at different points in space. While Cézanne saw in this his difficulty in realizing the full complexity of nature, the result was paintings that have ‘an unparalleled vitality and lay bare the formative process of painting as few other works of art do.’
It was good to see you celebrate this marvellous picture. I too first saw it in the old Courtauld Gallery which you had to access by an ancient lift. I was bowled over by the deepest of the blue; no reproduction ever does it justice. Until then I had always thought of Cezanne as a man for greens and browns. So in 1962 I first visited the Abbey of Talloires and saw across the lake the castle that Cezanne painted on the opposite shore . Since then I have tried to get nearer the castle at Duingt which seemed so mysterious. But even after three more visits to the area , it is still hides its true character. It is privately owned and never open to the public. I have been past it on the road that borders the lake and cruised past it on a boat. It is very close to the road and the lake laps its walls but it retains a dark, sulky mien.
ReplyDeleteI've just seen that there's an interesting piece by Jonathan Jones about this landscape painting here.
ReplyDeleteI am doing a French project about the Impressionist movement and I chose Cezzane for my artist. We were also supposed to find and describe (in french) a painting by that artist. I chose the "Lac d'Annecy" for the painting. I was attracted to it for its outstanding colors. I agree with what has been said above.
ReplyDeletei toatally agree with what was sed above and good luck on your project i am also doing a project on ceznne and this particular paintig i chose this painting coz of the deatail effort and persistance that has been put into this piece.
ReplyDeletei am also doing a proj on him and have chosen le lac d'annecy! love your thing
ReplyDelete