For Paul Cezanne, the canvas was a site of struggle. He perceived each subject as at war with itself, hung gingerly in the balance between success and failure; the right and wrong brushstroke. Fraught with indecision and doubt, he would reportedly take long pauses between each stroke, like a grandmaster at a chess game. Behind him, scores of unfinished and (often unsigned) paintings fell like collateral.

The acute pressure with which Cezanne created art makes ‘Bouilloire et fruits’ all the more triumphant. It is one of the select few he considered to have reached resolution – curious since the work itself seems incomplete. A phantom lemon or apple sits mute beside the milk jug, it’s handle disattached from its body and from the back left corner spill milky clouds, bleached of the fruit’s vibrancy. For Cezanne however, this incompletion was part of the work’s life.

In 2019 ‘Bouilloire et fruits’ sold at auction for $60 million. In his work, Philippe Le Miere simultaneously calls on this data while filtering Cezanne’s vision through his own. He observes that the life of a painting does not end at the easel, but rather evolves as it is passed on and prized between collectors, a trail of auction results materialising in its wake. Despite Cezanne’s fixation on ‘resolving’ his paintings, they are never really finished.

One way to understand the incompleteness of ‘Bouilloire et fruits’ is to think of it as kinetic potential. The scene thrums with restlessness; the possibility of movement. As a still life, it is never still. Under Le Miere, these fruits, sailing across white sheets, continue to shift – alive with life. For collectors of pop art, still lifes and those interested in art history, this is a spellbinding find.
 

Philippe LE MIERE (1975 - )
'after Paul CÉZANNE Bouilloire et fruits' 2021
acrylic on canvas
Image Size: 38 x 51 cm
Dimensions: 38 x 51 cm
Signed: Signed lower right Le Miere, inscribed verso Philippe Le Miere, title and date
Comes with Letter of Provenance
Work of art comes unframed to allow for safe and economical shipping. Contact us if you would like to arrange for this to be professionally framed.
Availability: in stock
Condition:As New: The work of art is in the same immaculate condition as when it was created. This could be the description for a work of art that may have been in storage for years, never sold on the market but may still be some years old.
© The Artist or Assignee