Newly discovered Cézanne sketches debut at the Barnes [photos]
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Houses in Landscape with Pilon du Roi was discovered when the backing paper was removed from a Paul Cézanne watercolor titled 'Trees.' (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Trees, a watercolor painted by Cezanne around 1900, was found to have a graphite sketched landscape on its back. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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This unfinished landscape in watercolor and graphite by Paul Cezanne was discovered on the back of a painting in the Barnes collection. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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The Chaine de l'Etoile Mountains (1885-1886) is displayed upside down to better show the undated watercolor sketch on the reverse side.. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Barnes Foundation Consulting Curator Martha Lucy describes the painstaking process that revealed the two previously unknown Cezanne sketches. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Two of the works, The Chaine de l'Etoile Mountains (top) and the newly discovered Houses in Landscape with Pilon du Roi, contain a distinctive rock formation in the south of France. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Notes on the paper were likely made by a dealer or framer. This one appears to read 'X non.' (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Barnes visitors get a look at both sides of Paul Cezanne's works. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
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Barbara Buckley, senior director of conservation at the Barnes Foundation, introduces 'Cezanne Uncovered,' an exhibit of two unknown sketches revealed during paper conservation treatment. The exhibit will be open to the public from April 10 through May 18. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Two unfinished sketches by Paul Cézanne, discovered during paper conservation treatment, will be on display at the Barnes Foundation through May 18.
The two landscapes, sketched on the backs of paintings in the Barnes collection, came to light as conservators removed acidic backing paper from “The Chaine de l’Etoile Mountains” and “Trees.” One depicts in graphite a specific landscape in southern France. The other, in graphite with a watercolor wash, features a less distinctive wooded landscape.
Dr. Albert Barnes purchased the paintings in 1921 from the collection of Leo and Gertrude Stein. They are displayed so that visitors can see both sides.
The sketches do not relate directly to any known Cézanne paintings and amount to “visual note taking,” said consulting curator Martha Lucy. “It reminds you how messy the creative process can be.”
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