Madame Cezanne in the Greenhouse, 1892 - by Paul Cezanne

A portrait unusual for Cezanne in the search for a tender, idealized, graceful expression. An unfinished work, it gives us a glimpse of Cezanne's methods. We see his first strokes, very sparse and thin like watcrcolor, and the progressive enrichment and strengthening of the entire canvas as he proceeds.

Building up the head, modeling the features with subtle tones, he adds parallel and counter touches around it. The inclination of the head - the bearer of a delicate submissiveness and revery - belongs as much with the tilted lines of the wall and the trees as with her own body.

Foreground and background are united in the common sweep of the tree trunk and the sitter's right arm. So rich an interplay of the person and the surroundings is uncommon in Cezanne's portraits; another example, but of a contrary, virile, intellectual quality, is the painting of Geffroy