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Homage to Cézanne

Maurice Denis, 1900

Maurice Denis's Homage to Cézanne, dated 1900, is in the collection of the Musée d'Orsay. The large canvas shows a gathering of artists around a still life by Paul Cézanne, a group portrait that doubles as a statement of admiration from a younger generation of painters.

Where to see it

Homage to Cézanne belongs to the Musée d'Orsay, which is also its listed location. Works in museum collections can be moved, rehung, lent or temporarily taken off view, so check the Musée d'Orsay's official website for current display status, opening hours and ticketing before you visit.

What to look for in person

The Cézanne at the centre

Start with the easel in the middle of the composition. It holds a still life by Paul Cézanne, with fruit and a fruit bowl, painted as a picture within the picture. Although it is small compared with the figures around it, it is the point toward which their attention and gestures turn. Notice how its warmer colours stand out against the dark clothing of the men. Cézanne himself does not appear in the scene; Denis honours him through his work rather than his portrait.

A gathering of painters

Look along the row of standing figures. Denis brought together artists from his own circle, many of them associated with the Nabis, the group of young painters to which he belonged. The bearded figure at the left is generally identified as Odilon Redon, an older artist the younger men admired, and Denis included himself among the group. Take time with the individual faces and poses: some figures look toward the easel, others toward each other, which gives the scene the feel of a conversation in progress rather than a formal line-up.

Scale and a restrained palette

The canvas measures 182 by 243.5 cm, so the figures read at close to life size when you stand in front of it. The palette is deliberately muted, dominated by blacks, greys and browns, with the still life and a few lighter accents giving relief. The figures are arranged in a calm, frieze-like band across the picture. Step back first to take in the whole arrangement and its overall rhythm, then move closer to see how simply Denis models faces and clothing.

About the painting

Homage to Cézanne was painted by Maurice Denis and is dated 1900. It is both a group portrait and a tribute. Rather than depicting Paul Cézanne in person, Denis placed one of Cézanne's still lifes on an easel and surrounded it with artists, so that the painting itself becomes the guest of honour. For the younger painters of Denis's generation, Cézanne was an important example of how a picture could be built from colour and structure rather than detailed imitation, and this canvas records that respect in a very direct way.

Denis was a painter and an influential writer on art, and a leading member of the Nabis, a loose group of young artists active in Paris from around 1890. Several figures in the painting belong to that circle, joined by the older painter Odilon Redon. The setting is an interior with paintings visible in the background, giving the sense of artists meeting among pictures.

For visitors, the work is rewarding to read slowly. It is large, measuring 182 by 243.5 cm, and its sober colouring and orderly arrangement invite attention to small differences of posture and expression. Consider it as a document of a moment around 1900, when one group of artists publicly declared where they saw the future of painting. The work is held by the Musée d'Orsay; confirm on the museum's official website whether it is currently on view before planning a visit around it.

Key facts

Sources

• Wikidata Q3139726
• billetterie.musee-orsay.fr
• www.musee-orsay.fr