It is widely known that Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) deeply influenced Cubism and the direction of 20th-century art. However, relatively little comprehensive research has considered the specific impact of Cézanne on the work of key American artists. The Montclair Art Museum, in collaboration with the Baltimore Museum of Art, will present the first exhibition to examine Cézanne’s profound influence upon the development of American modernism in this country and abroad. Cézanne and American Modernism will begin with an intimate display of 10-15 key paintings and works on paper by Cézanne. This installation will recreate, in part, important exhibitions in which his work was introduced to American artists—at Alfred Stieglitz’s renowned Gallery 291 in 1910 and 1911, the Armory Show of 1913, the Montross Gallery in 1916, and at museums, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1920, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1921, and the Museum of Modern Art in 1929. Each piece, including works owned by Leo and Gertrude Stein, will be selected for its relevance to the American artists whose work was changed by exposure to Cézanne’s innovative approach to painting. This presentation will include copies of related books, portfolios, and exhibition catalogues of this era, materials that were in many cases owned by and certainly influenced American artists.

The rest of the show will focus on 75-80 paintings, works on paper, prints, and photographs by a diverse group of leading American Modernists—among them Max Weber, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth, Morgan Russell, Man Ray, and Arshile Gorky—to show how Americans from across the United States responded to Cézanne’s themes, process, and style. Although the primary emphasis will be upon the work of American artists, selected works by Cézanne will be included in this section to clearly illustrate his impact on their work.

Maurice Prendergast’s pioneering discovery of Cézanne’s work in 1907 at the Galerie Bernheim-Jeune exhibition of the artist’s watercolors coincided with the experiences of artists Max Weber, Morgan Russell, and others, who saw the French master’s work in Paris at the home of Americans Gertrude and Leo Stein. Cézanne, who died in 1906, gradually became better known in New York as well. Cézanne’s work sparked an animated critical response, notably from the American painter-critic Walter Pach, who as early as 1908 wrote the first informed appreciation of Cézanne to appear in the United States. Cézanne and American Modernism will conclude with Arshile Gorky’s works of the late 1920s, by which time Cézanne had been canonized in the inaugural show of The Museum of Modern Art, Cézanne, Gauguin, Seurat, van Gogh (1929). This exhibition is being curated by Gail Stavitsky, MAM Chief Curator.

Cézanne and American Modernism will also be on view at:  
Baltimore Museum of Art: February 14 – May 23, 2010
Phoenix Art Museum: June 26 – September 26, 2010

Special thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, Terra Foundation for American Art, The Henry Luce Foundation, and The Leir Charitable Foundations for serving as lead sponsors.