Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1900–1906

One of the great pleasures afforded by the Pearlman collection is the opportunity to compare Cézanne’s oil painting practice to his watercolors, including the two versions of Mont Sainte-Victoire. In both works, Cézanne left traces of his working process. In the canvas, the materiality of the oil paint, applied in characteristically repetitive short strokes, is apparent. In the watercolor, the spatters juxtaposed with more carefully brushed layers of pigment serve as evidence of Cézanne’s method, which combined spontaneous touch with a deliberate one.