Sotheby's, New York. By the time this present work was painted Cézanne had been painting still-lifes for over thirty years and this painting is a superb example of the mature still-lifes of the 1890's. Cézanne used the earthenware jug, which dominates the present composition in six other canvasses. Also familiar from its appearance in a number of works of the 1880's and 1890's is the patterned blue drapery. This painting is amongst the simplest of the seven, though by no means the least impressive. In the present work the artist modified the opulence but greatly enriched the spatial complexity of the composition by locating the tabletop within the confines of the studio. Here he seems to have moved closer to the kitchen table, the lower edge of which is placed parallel to the bottom of the canvas while the upper edge gradually becomes less defined as it nears the center. In this newly confined setting the pitcher looms disproportionately large, cropped at the top so that its neck is now situated beyond the edge of the composition. The floor of the studio rises at a vertiginous angle until its ascent is stopped by a canvas leaning against the wall although this tonally consistent with the blue figured drapery that swoops down from the left under the blue-rimmed plate. Most surprising, perhaps, are the pieces of fruit placed strategically on the floor, an apple of indeterminate, greenish-yellow hue in the middle distance and two sharply contrasting pieces of fruit against the exposed stretcher, one bright green and the other yellow-red. Cézanne's still-lifes have long been recognised as among his greatest achievements, the works in which can be seen most clearly in the innovations that led to the stylistic developments of early 20th Century art. This work carried a pre-sale estimate of $ 18-25 million and the final bid appeared somewhat disappointing.
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