Man Wearing a Straw Hat

The work titled Man Wearing a Straw Hat was created by Paul Cézanne French, 1839-1906, during his final years, circa 1905-1906. This late-period piece, categorized as a painting by the museum, utilizes the immediate and delicate combination of watercolor with graphite on white wove paper. This specific medium was crucial to Cézanne’s experimental process, allowing him to rapidly study and articulate volume, color relationships, and structural integrity without the slow demands of oil paint.

The subject, a figure whose gaze is obscured by the brim of the namesake hat, showcases the iconic structural rigor characteristic of the artist’s Post-Impressionist style. Cézanne’s watercolors are renowned for their economy of application; here, the exposed white paper operates as a critical element of the composition, providing light and form rather than serving merely as a background. Graphite lines define the contours of the figure and the straw hat, while carefully placed washes of color build subtle depth. The visible white space and fractured, geometric handling of form anticipate many major developments in 20th-century abstraction.

Produced in France just before his death, the work demonstrates Cézanne's lifelong pursuit of merging natural observation with stable geometric principles, profoundly influencing successive generations of modern masters. Because of the importance of pieces like Man Wearing a Straw Hat to the history of modern art, high-quality prints and related images are often made available through public domain initiatives, ensuring widespread scholarly access. This significant painting remains a key holding within the permanent collection at the Art Institute of Chicago.