Portrait of Guillaumin.
1873
Paul Cézanne sketched his fellow painter and friend Armand Guillaumin in this striking 1873 portrait, capturing him sitting with arms crossed and a somewhat defiant look under a wide-brimmed hat. But look closely at the top left corner—there's a tiny, eerie figure hanging from a gallows! This dark little doodle is a mysterious touch, perhaps hinting at the financial struggles Guillaumin faced for most of his life before finally winning the lottery in his sixties. It showcases Cézanne's early, energetic line work before he fully developed the blocky, geometric shapes that defined his later Post-Impressionist masterpieces.
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