 | The Arc
The Arc, the river which runs through the south of Aix-en-Provence, was a peaceful sanctuary for Cézanne, more than any other place. Already in his youth, with his classmates Émile Zola and Baptiste Baille, he took refuge on its banks in the shade of the large trees bordering the river. The inseparable trio went there regularly to swim and fish after having emptied sacks full of food. When Zola left Aix for Paris in 1858, Cézanne was inconsolable over the separation. In their abundant correspondence, the two friends evoked their merry memories. Cézanne often took up his pen to describe “Arc, the merry banks”.
Subsequently, Cézanne went swimming in the river with other friends. When the weather cooled suddenly, on May 3rd, 1858, he wrote to Zola: “Good-bye swimming. Good-bye to our precious swimming, at the joyful beaches…”, then, as soon as the weather was nice again, “what is sure is that I yearn to go there: To dive in boldly, to explore the waters of the Arc, and in those limpid waters, to catch the fish that Luck offers up to me”.
In November 1868, Cézanne wrote to Numa Coste: “I am still working away at a landscape of the banks of the Arc, it is always for the next Gallery exhibit, will it be ready for the one in 1869?”
From early August to early October 1906, Cézanne went to the shores of the Arc every day. During the month of August 1906, the heat was overpowering, “it represses the mind considerably and prevents me from reflecting. I get up in the morning, and it is only between five and eight o'clock that I can live my life. After that, the heat becomes unbelievably intense and causes such a cerebral depression that I do not even think about painting any more”. (Letter to his son, August 3rd, 1906).
On August 10th, 1906, a man named Rolland visited Cézanne and offered to pose for him, as “a figure of a bather on the shores of the Arc - that made me smile a little, but I fear that the man wants to get his hands on my study; I almost want to try something with him anyway”. (Letter to his son, August 12th, 1906).
In search of cool relief, Cézanne went to the river every day, by carriage: “I spend some pleasant hours there. There are large trees, they form a vault above the water. I go to the place known as Gour de Martelly, it is on the small path from Milles that leads to Montbriant”. (Letter to his son, on September 2nd, 1906).
It paints a watercolor there “Connects tree above water (Gour de Martelly)” (R 633) - 1906.39 X 52 cm, whose current owner is unknown.
“Here at the riverbanks, motifs abound, the same subject seen from a different angle provides a subject for a study of keenest interest, and so varied that I believe that I could keep myself busy for months on end without even changing where I stand, just by leaning sometimes a bit to the right and sometimes to the left”. (Letter to his son, on September 8th, 1906). Ambroise Vollard accompanied Cézanne on one of these excursions: “I walked with Cézanne along the Arc. We fled the heat, there was not the slightest breeze. Cézanne examined a certain area along the river, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun: “It would be beautiful to paint a nude here!” |
