Portrait of Ambroise Vollard
1899
Ambroise Vollard, a legendary Parisian art dealer, endured a grueling 115 sittings for this portrait! Cézanne, a pioneer of Post-Impressionism, was notoriously impatient and famously scolded the dealer for shifting in his seat, yelling, 'Do I have to tell you again that you must sit like an apple? Does an apple move?' The result is this intense, brooding image where Vollard looks less like a successful businessman and more like a man trapped in a geometric puzzle of dark blues and browns. You can see Cézanne's signature blocky brushstrokes building up the form, a constructive style that would directly inspire the Cubists like Picasso.
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