We look across a body of water at two houses, some smaller outbuildings, and a houseboat along the far bank in this abstracted, horizontal landscape painting. Painted with thin, loose strokes of moss and pine green, pale topaz and denim blue, and black, many of the details are indistinct. The cream-white houses have dark roofs and are nearly engulfed by tall, lush trees that reach nearly to the top of the canvas. Fog-gray clouds float against a watery blue sky above. The green of the trees is reflected in the water below, where some of the canvas remains unpainted, especially in the lower left corner. A crimson-red blotch appears over the houses.
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We look across a body of water at two houses, some smaller outbuildings, and a houseboat along the far bank in this abstracted, horizontal landscape painting. Painted with thin, loose strokes of moss and pine green, pale topaz and denim blue, and black, many of the details are indistinct. The cream-white houses have dark roofs and are nearly engulfed by tall, lush trees that reach nearly to the top of the canvas. Fog-gray clouds float against a watery blue sky above. The green of the trees is reflected in the water below, where some of the canvas remains unpainted, especially in the lower left corner. A crimson-red blotch appears over the houses.

National Gallery of Art · Painting

At the Water's Edge

Paul Cezanne

Date
c. 1890
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 73 × 92.5 cm (28 3/4 × 36 7/16 in.) framed: 103.51 × 121.92 × 13.97 cm (40 3/4 × 48 × 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
Painting
Accession number
1972.9.1
Credit line
Gift of the W. Averell Harriman Foundation in memory of Marie N. Harriman
Time span
1876 to 1900
Department
CF

Subjects and terms

  • painted surface
  • French
  • France
  • landscape
  • Waterway
  • Post-Impressionist
Provenance

Probably purchased through (Ambroise Vollard [1866-1939], Paris) by Egisto Fabbri [1866-1933], Florence; acquired through (Paul Rosenberg, Paris) February 1938 by Marie N. Harriman [1903-1970] and W. Averell Harriman [1891-1986], New York [Marie Harriman Gallery]; W. Averell Harriman Foundation; gift 1972 to NGA.[1] [1] According to Harriman collection records in NGA curatorial files.

NGA object ID 53119. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.