Curtain, Jug and Fruit

Paul Cezanne was a French painter who created one of his famous works called, Curtain, Jug, and Fruit between 1893-1894. The genre of this painting is known as Still Life and the art period for this type of work was known as Post-Impressionism.

Cezanne was one of the leaders of this period in art history. Impressionism was concerned with using light and hue in a natural way, but it was also very spontaneous while still maintaining a realistic feel. The Post-Impressionists rebelled against this method of painting, preferring to do the opposite. Artists like Gauguin, van Gogh, Seurat, and Cezanne were interested in the use of vivid yet unusual forms of colour, geometric forms, and a focus on expression. Cezanne wanted to return to order and structure in painting. Impressionism was known for its saturated hues and this is what he maintained in Curtain, Jug, and Fruit. The colours of the fruits in this painting are very vivid and bold, taking the eye of the viewer horizontally across the picture.

Even though this is a Post-Impressionist painting, there is a structure and an order to the artwork which is what Cezanne wanted to achieve. The jug on the left is opposite the plate of fruit on the right. The white cloth holds some more fruit that appears to be casually thrown on to it. Yet, even though there is a certain amount of disorder, it is contained because everything, the curtain, jug and fruit are on the table. The only thing that is unclear is whether the curtain is the blue cloth hanging next to the jug or the white cloth on the table. Neither the blue or the white cloth looks like a curtain.

The focus of this artwork as with other works of Cezanne is perspective and the simplification of geometric shapes. The objects in this painting look very realistic, but there is a simplicity to them. It's as if the painting is a cross between reality and cartoon. The materials used to create this painting are oil paint and canvas. The application of the paint was usually thick with this style of painting and short brush strokes were typically used. The dimensions of this painting are 59 x 72.4 cm and it is part of a private collection. It is important to keep in mind that while Cezanne used certain techniques when painting Curtain, Jug, and fruit that his painting style was varied throughout his lifetime.