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Lot 60

CÉZANNE (PAUL)
Autograph letter signed, to Gustave Geffroy, Paris, 2 January 1895

20 November 2024, 13:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £3,840 inc. premium

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CÉZANNE (PAUL)

Autograph letter signed ("Paul Cézanne"), to Gustave Geffroy ("Cher Monseiur Geffroy"), in French, confirming he has received Geffroy's letter, is happy with the plan to meet and looks forward to seeing him the following Tuesday, sending cordial regards to Geffroy and his family; mounted with autograph envelope, one page on a bifolium, paper discoloured where previously framed and exposed, dust-staining and marks, small pin holes along horizontal fold, some repairs to folds with conservation tape, letter 8vo (208 x 134mm.), with mount 432 x 227mm., Paris, 2 January 1895

Footnotes

Written to Gustave Geffroy (1855-1925), journalist and art critic, our letter seemingly refers to arrangements for a sitting for Geffroy's portrait begun in 1895 and now in the Musée d'Orsay. Despite sitting for Cézanne for three months, the portrait, set in Geffroy's library with the critic surrounded by his books, remained unfinished, probably due to the artist's unpredictable behaviour. It was an important commission for Cézanne. Geffroy was one of the first historians and champions of the Impressionist movement, and numbered Edmond de Goncourt, Rodin and Zola amongst his circle. He was introduced to Cézanne through his friend Claude Monet and wrote a rare favourable article on the artist in Le Journal in March 1894. Our letter is published in Alex Danchev, The Letters of Paul Cézanne, 2013, no.156, p.261, but not in John Rewald's, Paul Cézanne, Letters, 1941.

Provenance: Sotheby's New York, 12 November 2007, lot 75; Artcurial, Paris, 2 April 2019, lot 326.

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