Paul Cézanne
Cézanne’s art was still highly controversial when the Nationalgalerie in Berlin purchased this painting: it was only two years previously that the French government had accepted two of his works as part of the Caillebotte donation, but had rejected another three.
For a long time, Cézanne commuted between his place of birth, Aix-en-Provence, and Paris, although he also stayed in various towns of the Île-de-France. Camille Pissarro lived in Pontoise northwest of Paris. Cézanne paid him several visits there (the first in 1872, the last from May to October of 1881), and their work together encouraged him in the direction of light, impressionistic colors: “We perhaps all go back to Pissarro,” he later said. The older painter also led him to that clarity and calm that pervades the painting of the mill, and which are achieved despite extraordinary accuracy in his portrayal of the motif; this is clear from old pictures showing the Moulin des Etannets on the rue des Deux Ponts, one of many mills in that area that depended on the corn trade for its existence. The flat white houses in the background create a sober effect. At the same time, there is a geometric order that takes in the whole picture plane. The composition is governed by strict horizontals and verticals cutting across each other.
Despite interruptions, these apparently run as parallels throughout the whole picture; closer examination, however, shows that in the lower half of the picture, that is to say in the foreground, they slope away increasingly into diagonals. The colors range through shades of green to airy blue and ocher. Because each brushstroke is independent (whether short and straight or curved or even curled), the paint does not entirely cover the painting’s ground, thus incorporating its pale, immaterial quality.
We are featuring this masterpiece thanks to the Alte Nationalgalerie, where, until 27 September 2026, you can see it in the Cassirer and the Breakthrough of Impressionism exhibition. Paul Cassirer was one of the most important art dealers of his time. Don't miss it if you are in Berlin!
P.S. Let's take a closer look at Paul Cézanne through 10 paintings!
P.P.S. Our 2027 calendars are now available for presale with 15% off for a limited number of copies. Don’t wait too long! :)