{"id":146,"date":"2024-12-06T14:22:16","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T19:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/?p=146"},"modified":"2024-12-13T13:43:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T18:43:20","slug":"still-life-with-a-ginger-jar-and-eggplants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/2024\/12\/06\/still-life-with-a-ginger-jar-and-eggplants\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Still Life With a Ginger Jar and Eggplants<\/a>, Paul C\u00e9zanne, 1893-94, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Stephen C. Clark, 1960<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Still Life with A Ginger Jar and Eggplants,\u00a0<\/em>Paul C\u00e9zanne, 1893-1894<\/p>\n

By Mac<\/p>\n

Still Life with A Ginger Jar and Eggplants, <\/em>is a painting by French Post-Impressionist artist Paul C\u00e9zanne, created from 1893-1894. C\u00e9zanne employed multiple perspectives in this painting, subtly shifting viewpoints to explore the full nature of objects. This results in a slightly tilted and unstable spatial arrangement that challenges classic ideas of composition.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9zanne used a rather limited palette, choosing primarily blues and greens with touches of red, purple, and yellow. The dominant cool tones create a cohesive atmosphere imbuing the scene with a calm and subtle energy. The highlights on the ginger jar and the reflective surfaces of the eggplants are conveyed through light strokes of white or lighter blue, providing contrast without harsh outlines. He allows the colors themselves to define volume and depth. C\u00e9zanne unifies the work through his restrained color choices and consistent use of geometric shapes. The warm tones of the fruit on the plate provide a focal point interrupting the cooler colors yet still harmonizing with them. C\u00e9zanne\u2019s brushwork is visible, layered, and deliberate. The textured strokes in the background and in the textiles juxtapose the more refined handling of the jar, vase, and fruit.<\/p>\n

The rounded shapes of the eggplants, fruits, jar, and vase, lend themselves to a sense of unity and rhythm across the surface. The diagonal placement of the eggplants contribute to a fluid motion. This rhythm is subtle but reinforces the organic nature of the still life. The textiles are not smoothed or idealized, this could be C\u00e9zanne\u2019s way of placing the still life in a more honest, lived experience. The crumpled, overlapping textiles, and the seemingly precarious positioning of the plate of fruit exists to signify the messiness and impermanence of daily life. This sense of imbalance could symbolize how life is always on the verge of shifting.<\/p>\n

In the same way C\u00e9zanne shows us multiple viewpoints, he\u2019s showing us life as it happens. The physical functions in the metaphorical and vice versa. C\u00e9zanne sought to capture the underlying reality of life, which included embracing imperfection and instability.<\/p>\n

I chose Still Life with A Ginger Jar and Eggplants<\/em> because I\u2019m typically reticent to engage with still lives, often feeling they don\u2019t have much to offer beyond surface-level beauty. However, C\u00e9zanne\u2019s approach in this painting challenged my feelings. At my first glance, the piece appeared to be calm and balanced. As I studied it more closely, I realized C\u00e9zanne was doing something far more intricate. The idea of capturing life\u2019s truths has always been compelling to me. Rather than presenting an idealized scene, C\u00e9zanne embraces the messy elements of existence.<\/p>\n

The items in this painting could be thought of as motifs since C\u00e9zanne painted a number of still lifes rendering the same things (ginger jar, fruits, crumpled textiles). This idea of seriality is interesting to me in thinking about the repetition of daily life. Showing change by depicting things that never change, returning to ideas, props, forms, as a way to think about progress and a life’s work.<\/p>\n

C\u00e9zanne\u2019s work was revolutionary, creating a bridge between Impressionism and Cubism. His interest in light aligns with the Impressionists\u2019 while his overlapping planes and shapes foreshadowed the fragmented forms and spatial relationships that are present in Cubism. At a time when artists were \u201cexpected\u201d to adhere to the strict rules of perspective, C\u00e9zanne broke away, employing a more honest depiction of how we see and experience the real world. What I saw as a simple arrangement of objects revealed layers of depth, both visually and conceptually, through C\u00e9zanne\u2019s ability to balance imperfection with harmony.<\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

Paul C\u00e9zanne | Still Life with a Ginger Jar and Eggplants | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/art\/collection\/search\/435881
\nPaul C\u00e9zanne | Still Life with Apples | The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection.
\n(n.d.). The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection
\nhttps:\/\/www.getty.edu\/art\/collection\/object\/103QT5
\nPaul C\u00e9zanne | Ginger Jar (Pot de gingembre) | Barnes Collection Online.
\n(n.d.). Barnes Collection
\nhttps:\/\/collection.barnesfoundation.org\/objects\/7001\/Ginger-Jar-(Pot-de-gingembre)\/
\nThe National Gallery, London. (n.d.). Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906) | National Gallery, London. https:\/\/www.nationalgallery.org.uk\/artists\/paul-cezanne
\nVoorhies, J. (1 C.E., January 1). Paul C\u00e9zanne (1839\u20131906). The Met\u2019s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. https:\/\/www.metmuseum.org\/toah\/hd\/pcez\/hd_pcez.htm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Still Life with A Ginger Jar and Eggplants,\u00a0Paul C\u00e9zanne, 1893-1894 By Mac Still Life with A Ginger Jar and Eggplants, is a painting by French Post-Impressionist artist Paul C\u00e9zanne, created from 1893-1894. C\u00e9zanne employed multiple perspectives in this painting, subtly shifting viewpoints to explore the full nature of objects. This results in a slightly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10101,"featured_media":147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-146","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fall-2024","8":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146\/revisions\/307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.bmcc.cuny.edu\/art-106-at-the-met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}