Woman in Front of a Still Life by Cezanne

The painting Woman in Front of a Still Life by Cezanne was created by Paul Gauguin in 1890, a pivotal year for the artist just prior to his permanent move outside of Europe. Executed in oil on linen canvas, this complex work exemplifies the high point of Gauguin’s Post-Impressionism style, characterized by flattened color fields, synthetic outlines, and a focus on emotive, symbolic content rather than naturalistic representation.

Gauguin, a leading figure in the French avant-garde, deliberately constructed a painting that is both a portrait and an artistic dialogue. The central figure, rendered with characteristic compositional simplification, stands positioned before a visible artwork: a still life by Paul Cézanne. This layering of imagery speaks to the intellectual environment of late 19th-century France, where artists often engaged in complex relationships of influence and rivalry. Gauguin deeply admired Cézanne, and his inclusion of a Cézanne painting within his own work highlights his engagement with the formal problems of modern painting.

The medium of oil on linen allowed Gauguin to achieve the saturated, non-naturalistic hues associated with the Synthetism movement he helped establish. His technique involves defining large areas of color separated by strong contours, lending the figures and objects a monumental, almost decorative quality. The work’s cultural significance lies in its departure from Western traditional realism and its move toward abstraction and symbolism.

Today, this significant canvas forms a key part of the Art Institute of Chicago collection. As a masterwork from the end of the 19th century, the painting continues to be widely studied. While the original is highly protected, high-quality prints and scholarly materials related to this period are frequently made available, with many of the defining works of early modernism entering the public domain, securing Gauguin’s enduring legacy.