Footpath in the Woods

1882–84

Footpath in the Woods, 1882–84. Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906). Watercolor and graphite on modern laid paper; image: 47 x 31 cm (18 1/2 x 12 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 2021.165 Paul Cezanne is known for moving beyond the visible brushwork of Impressionism toward a “constructive stroke,” in which each mark built a cohesive whole. He favored subjects that he saw as timeless, including landscape, the focus of this watercolor. Cezanne depicted chestnut trees at the Jas de Bouffan, his family estate outside Aix-en-Provence in southern France. He used graphite lines and areas of muted watercolor, but also the whiteness of his sheet of paper to represent the scene. The artist worked in watercolor throughout his entire career, seeing it as a site of experimentation and for developing new ideas. This drawing was once owned by collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein, in whose Parisian apartment it would have been seen by a young Pablo Picasso.