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Lot Essay
In Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir, Cézanne has rendered the scene of a woody path with characteristic conciseness. The forms of the trees and foliage have been rendered through a deliberately sparing use of light pencil and strokes of watercolour, yet these deceptively simple means have been used to explore the colour, the light and the perspective of the scene as the path curves towards the well of the title. Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir was executed circa 1900 (Rewald's estimate; Venturi posits a date range of 1895-1900), and shows the same well that also featured in another work (RWC428, which was given a slightly earlier date than the present work by Rewald and was ascribed to circa 1900 by Venturi). In Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir, there is a greater sense of evenness in the distribution of brushstrokes and in the density of detailing; however, as is the case in the greatest of Cézanne's watercolours, he has relied heavily on the areas left in reserve, on the sheet itself as medium as well as support, a technique that he was also increasingly transferring to his oils of the period.
Cézanne painted several oils and watercolours in the grounds around the Château Noir, which was near Aix and was named after an industrialist who had built it having made his money in coal and soot-based paint. Cézanne would often travel there from Aix, covering the three mile journey by cart, particularly after the sale in 1899 of his home and estate, the Jas de Bouffan. Indeed, he even rented a space just by its courtyard to store his materials. It is an indication of the importance of Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir that it featured in Cézanne's first one-man show in New York, held five years after his death and consisting of twenty watercolours.
Cézanne painted several oils and watercolours in the grounds around the Château Noir, which was near Aix and was named after an industrialist who had built it having made his money in coal and soot-based paint. Cézanne would often travel there from Aix, covering the three mile journey by cart, particularly after the sale in 1899 of his home and estate, the Jas de Bouffan. Indeed, he even rented a space just by its courtyard to store his materials. It is an indication of the importance of Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir that it featured in Cézanne's first one-man show in New York, held five years after his death and consisting of twenty watercolours.