THE WORLD IS AN APPLE

The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne at the Barnes Foundation

This summer, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia premieres a landmark exhibition of still-life paintings by French post-impressionist Paul Cézanne. Ranging from early paintings to very late works, with themes ranging from apples and flowers to skulls, this select gathering of 23 paintings reappraises Cézanne’s monumental achievement in the genre. The exhibition, The World is An Apple: The Still Lifes of Paul Cézanne, runs through September 22.

A prolific artist who synthesized formal problems through a close study of objects, Cézanne’s lifelong engagement with still life yielded what is arguably the most innovative body of work in the genre by any artist in the Western canon. Ultimately, Cézanne set still-life painting on a new course, rescuing it from its low position in the academic hierarchy of French painting, and prefiguring later compositions of masters from Pablo Picasso to Andy Warhol.

The exhibition draws from an international roster of public collections, including major works from acclaimed European and American museums such as the National Gallery (Washington, DC), Musée d’Orsay (Paris), Stiftung Langmatt (Baden), Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest), Philadelphia Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York). Other paintings come from important private collections that provide a rare glimpse of seminal works in the genre.

The exhibition complements the 69 works by Cézanne on display in the permanent collection of the Barnes Foundation, inviting audiences to compare and contrast his work across time and subjects with the still lifes in the special exhibition.

For admission tickets including tours, events, and talks around the Cézanne show, visit barnesfoundation.org or call 215.278.7200.