Lot 3216 - A215 Impressionist & Modern Art - Friday, 28. November 2025, 04.30 PM
PAUL CÉZANNE
(1839 Aix-en-Provence 1906)
L'après-midi à Naples ou Le punch au rhum. 1876/77.
Oil on canvas.
14.7 × 24 cm.
Provenance:
- Alexandre Berthier de Wagram (Prince of Wagram), Paris, 1906.
- Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
- Alphonse Kann, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1909.
- Ambroise Vollard, Paris.
- Reid & Lefèvre, London.
- Galerie Bénézit, Paris.
- Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1955–70.
- Collection of Fanny and Bernard Watel, Lausanne, acquired from the above gallery ca. 1970 and by descent to the present owner.
Exhibited:
Literature:
- John Rewald: The Paintings of Paul Cézanne. A Catalogue Raisonné, New York 1996, vol. 2, no. 289 (illustrated).
- Lionello Venturi: Cézanne. Son art, son œuvre, Paris 1936 (rev. ed. San Francisco 1983), vol. I, p. 91, no. 112.
- René Huyghe: Cézanne, Paris 1936, Tafel 12.
- Kurt Badt: Die Kunst Cézannes, München 1956, S. 227.
- John Rewald: The History of Impressionism, New York 1961, S. 170 (mit Abb., falsche Datierung).
- Theodore Reff: Cézanne's 'Dream of Hannibal', in: The Art Bulletin 45, Nr. 2, Juni 1963, S. 151.
- Meyer Schapiro: Paul Cézanne, Paris 1973, S. 53 (mit Abb.).
- Guila Ballas: Cézanne. Baigneuses et baigneurs. Thème et composition, Paris 2002, S. 310, Nr. 268 (mit Abb.).
- Wayne V. Andersen: Cézanne and the Eternal Feminine, Cambridge 2004, p. 129, no. 75 (illustrated).
- Bertram Schmidt: Cézannes Lehre, Kiel 2004, no. 65.
- Guy-Patrice und Floriane Dauberville: Paul Cézanne chez Bernheim-Jeune, Paris 2020, no. 264 (illustrated).
The painting "L'Après-midi à Naples," or "Le punch au rhum," emerged in 1876/77. It belongs to a small group of works in which Paul Cézanne explores erotic themes. The present painting is probably a smaller version of a work by the same name that Cézanne conceived around ten years earlier and is now considered lost.
Cézanne combines here the classical topoi of the bacchanal and the nude with an intimate bourgeois interior. The impetus for this series of figure compositions was likely Édouard Manet's 1863 painting "Olympia," which sparked controversy at the time and was reinterpreted shortly afterwards by Cézanne in his own style under the title "Une moderne Olympia."
During this period, Cézanne painted a small number of similar works, each differing in composition and arrangement of the figures. What they share is a concern with the disposition of the human figure in an enclosed space, as well as the relationship between figurative representation and pictorial construction.
Here Cézanne depicts two entwined reclining nudes on a bed, while a third figure serves them a bowl of rum punch. The scene unfolds in an intimate interior enclosed by heavy draperies.
The design of the composition, the compressed spatial structure, and the concise modeling of the bodies point to Cézanne's intensive engagement with the masters of the 17th century, especially Peter Paul Rubens. Elements such as the drapery drawn to the side and the body-centered, substantial figure arrangement, exhibit a conscious reference to Baroque models.
At the same time, Cézanne in this work is already moving away from the heavy, dark painting style of his early years. Camille Pissarro, who mentored him from 1872 onward, encouraged him to work exclusively with the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Under this influence, Cézanne's painting opened up to a lighter, more transparent palette, the effect of which is already clearly discernible in this work. Also, the earlier impasto masses of color give way to a looser paint application, lending the surface a lively texture. Here, both in terms of color and form, the "Cézannesque" style that would later distinguish his painting is already apparent.
The first owner of the work was the well-known art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who contributed significantly to Paul Cézanne's success. Vollard met Cézanne in 1894 in Aix-en-Provence, where the artist lived in secluded and modest circumstances. Enthusiastic about Cézanne's paintings, Vollard organized the artist's first solo exhibition at a Paris gallery in 1895. Although the show was not a great commercial success, it was ultimately of art historical significance: Young artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Braque visited the exhibition, saw Cézanne's works for the first time, and were profoundly influenced by them.
Cézanne combines here the classical topoi of the bacchanal and the nude with an intimate bourgeois interior. The impetus for this series of figure compositions was likely Édouard Manet's 1863 painting "Olympia," which sparked controversy at the time and was reinterpreted shortly afterwards by Cézanne in his own style under the title "Une moderne Olympia."
During this period, Cézanne painted a small number of similar works, each differing in composition and arrangement of the figures. What they share is a concern with the disposition of the human figure in an enclosed space, as well as the relationship between figurative representation and pictorial construction.
Here Cézanne depicts two entwined reclining nudes on a bed, while a third figure serves them a bowl of rum punch. The scene unfolds in an intimate interior enclosed by heavy draperies.
The design of the composition, the compressed spatial structure, and the concise modeling of the bodies point to Cézanne's intensive engagement with the masters of the 17th century, especially Peter Paul Rubens. Elements such as the drapery drawn to the side and the body-centered, substantial figure arrangement, exhibit a conscious reference to Baroque models.
At the same time, Cézanne in this work is already moving away from the heavy, dark painting style of his early years. Camille Pissarro, who mentored him from 1872 onward, encouraged him to work exclusively with the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Under this influence, Cézanne's painting opened up to a lighter, more transparent palette, the effect of which is already clearly discernible in this work. Also, the earlier impasto masses of color give way to a looser paint application, lending the surface a lively texture. Here, both in terms of color and form, the "Cézannesque" style that would later distinguish his painting is already apparent.
The first owner of the work was the well-known art dealer Ambroise Vollard, who contributed significantly to Paul Cézanne's success. Vollard met Cézanne in 1894 in Aix-en-Provence, where the artist lived in secluded and modest circumstances. Enthusiastic about Cézanne's paintings, Vollard organized the artist's first solo exhibition at a Paris gallery in 1895. Although the show was not a great commercial success, it was ultimately of art historical significance: Young artists such as Picasso, Matisse, and Braque visited the exhibition, saw Cézanne's works for the first time, and were profoundly influenced by them.
CHF 450 000 / 650 000 | (€ 463 920 / 670 100)
Sold for CHF 573 200 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.