Haus in der Provence

A lone farmhouse stands firm against bands of field, hill and grey-blue mountain. In this corner of Provence where he grew up, Cezanne built a landscape stroke by stroke, like a patchwork.

The story behind the painting

House in Provence, in French Maison devant la Sainte-Victoire pres de Gardanne, was painted by Paul Cezanne, the French Post-Impressionist, between 1886 and 1890. It is an oil painting, and its German title calls it simply House in Provence. It shows the region where he lived with his family and where he had spent his youth, on the south side of Montagne Sainte-Victoire, one of his favourite subjects. Wikidata dates it simply to the 1880s.

What to look for

The tones are muted and soft: grey-blue mountains in the background, soft greens of rolling hills, brown fields. His dynamic style is best observed up close. Look closely at the brushstrokes, which intersect and build a patchwork, creating lively movement inside the hard lines that border the house and the mountain. Horizontal bands of grey-blue, green and brown contrast with the vertical trees and the solid, isolated farmhouse. The canvas measures about 65.5 by 81.3 cm.

Meaning and intent

The painting is seen as an example of Cezanne's mature style. Unlike the other Impressionists, he did not chase the same interests, but focused on the basic structure of what he painted. Here the house and the mountain are not fleeting impressions but solid forms, held together by the rhythm of colour. The horizontal bands of field, hill and mountain play against the upright trees and the lone, solidly built farmhouse.

Legacy

The painting was probably bought by Ambroise Vollard. In 1910 it went to Henri Bernstein, around 1918 probably to Gottlieb Reber, and by 1936 to Marie Harriman. In 1945 Caroline Marmon Fesler bought it for the John Herron Art Institute, now the Indianapolis Museum of Art, in memory of her parents Daniel W. and Elizabeth C. Marmon. As of 2012, according to the source, it was part of the museum's permanent collection.