Artwork
Vase of Flowers
Vase of Flowers is an oil painting by the Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cézanne. It dates from 1902 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Its genre is classified as still life and the subject is described as a flower, indicating that the central motif is a floral arrangement.
The work is a 1902 oil on canvas still life by Paul Cézanne that portrays a vase of flowers. Its genre is classified as still life and the subject is described as a flower, indicating that the central motif is a floral arrangement. The painting’s composition presents the bouquet as the primary visual element, emphasizing the spatial relationships among the blossoms, the vase, and the surrounding space.
As a still life, it belongs to the tradition in which Cézanne examined the formal qualities of objects, using the arrangement of flowers to explore structure and color within the canvas.
Technique & Style
The painting is an oil on canvas work, produced in 1902 by Paul Cézanne. Its material consists of oil paint applied to a canvas support, a technique typical of the artist’s still-life practice. The composition depicts a vase of flowers, situating it within the still-life genre documented for this piece.
According to provenance data, the work passed from Ambroise Vollard through Marius de Zayas and Edward Steichen before being acquired by the National Gallery of Art.
History & Provenance
Created in 1902, Paul Cézanne's oil painting Vase of Flowers entered the market through the Paris dealer Ambroise Vollard, who lent the work to the Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition at London's Grafton Galleries by 1912. By 1916, ownership had transferred to Marius de Zayas, evidenced by the piece's display at his Modern Gallery in New York. Around 1921, the photographer Edward Steichen acquired the canvas on behalf of Eugene and Agnes Ernst Meyer of Mount Kisco, New York, who lent it to a Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition that same year.
The Meyers retained the work until 1958, when they gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains in the collection.
Overview
Paul Cézanne's Vase of Flowers, painted in 1902, is an oil on canvas still life. This composition depicts a simple arrangement of flowers held within a vase, resting on a table. The work exemplifies Cézanne's enduring engagement with everyday subjects, through which he consistently investigated the fundamental principles of form, color, and spatial relationships.
Own this work as a print
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,…
Harlequin
The Card Players
Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley
Still Life with Milk Jug and Fruit
Le Golfe de Marseille vu de l'Estaque (The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L'Estaque)
Houses in Provence: The Riaux Valley near L'Estaque
Louis Guillaume
Still Life with Jar, Cup, and Apples
