Artwork
The Battle of Love
The Battle of Love is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Paul Cézanne. It dates from 1880 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
Dated to 1880, the work is a bacchanalian scene of nude figures struggling in a wooded landscape and is classified as a history painting.
The Battle of Love is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 38 cm high by 46 cm wide. Dated to 1880, the work is a bacchanalian scene of nude figures struggling in a wooded landscape and is classified as a history painting. The medium, oil paint applied to a woven canvas support, is typical of Cézanne's technique during this period.
The painting resides in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. The sources do not specify details of brushwork, surface condition, or stylistic handling beyond its medium and genre.
History & Provenance
Paul Cézanne painted The Battle of Love in 1880 in oil on canvas. The work entered the art market through Ambroise Vollard in Paris by 1895. It was subsequently acquired by Pierre-Auguste Renoir at his home in Cagnes, though accounts differ on whether Renoir bought it from Vollard or received it as a gift from the artist.
Vollard re-acquired the painting by 1912. A shipping receipt from July 1912 documents the work being sent to Dr. Gottlieb Friedrich Reber and Erna Reber in Barmen, Germany. The couple retained the piece until May 1931, when it was sold to Marie N. and W. Averell Harriman in New York through the Marie Harriman Gallery.
The W. Averell Harriman Foundation later held the painting before gifting it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., in 1972. Its accession number is not specified in the available sources, and it was shown in 1913 as part of the Reber collection in Darmstadt and Berlin.
Overview
Paul Cézanne's The Battle of Love, an oil on canvas created around 1880, presents a dynamic and unresolved scene. Though categorized as a history painting, it departs from traditional narrative clarity, instead focusing on an intense, almost primal struggle between two figures. The work remains unfinished, offering insight into Cézanne's working process and contributing to its raw, immediate impact.
Subject & Meaning
The composition depicts a man and a woman locked in a fervent, almost violent embrace or conflict. Their forms are intertwined, suggesting a struggle that is both physical and emotional. Behind them, a tree with dark, contorted branches appears to lean into the scene, mirroring the tension and agitation of the figures.
The ambiguity of their interaction, whether it is a passionate struggle or a forceful confrontation, invites multiple interpretations.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Cézanne ( say-ZAN, UK also siz-AN, US also say-ZAHN; French: ; Occitan: Pau Cesana; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation,…
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