Undergrowth (Broussailles)
Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906)
Undergrowth, ca. 1900–04
Watercolor and graphite on buff wove paper
31.2 x 49.1 cm. (12 5/16 x 19 5/16 in.)
Provenance
[Ambroise Vollard (1867–1939), Paris]. [Valentine (Dudensing) Gallery, New York, by 1937]. J. J. Puritz, New York, sold at auction at Parke-Bernet, New York, 17–18 Jan. 1945, lot 154; sold to L. R. Bauman (?). Henry Pearlman, by 1958; Henry and Rose Pearlman Foundation, 1985.
Critical Perspective
Showing a more limited palette than many of Cézanne’s watercolors, this work provides the viewer with few clues as to season, location, or time of day. Because of a broken, dissolving ground line, the scene—hovering in an indeterminate middle ground—may be interpreted as a riverbank or the edges of a field or forest clearing.