Pot and Soup Tureen|Paul Cézanne |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 16 June 2026

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Currently not on display

Paul Cézanne

Aix-en-Provence, 1839 - Aix-en-Provence, 1906

Pot and Soup Tureen

Date	1888-90
Materials and Techniques	pencil and watercolour on paper
Size（cm）	12.3 x 21.5
Inscriptions	Illegible pagination lower right
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	Venturi 848; Rewald 294; M1486
Category	Drawings
Collection Number	D.1959-0006

Because Cézanne viewed only oil paintings as finished works, none of his watercolor paintings were revealed to the public during his lifetime. But no study of Cézanne's artistic career would be complete without a look at these watercolors. Cézanne became seriously engaged with the medium of watercolor during the 1880s; this coincided with the period in which he was pursuing structural composition. Even in these rough sketches, it seems that Cézanne placed less emphasis on his subject than he did on the composition of color. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Georges Bernheim, Paris; Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1919; purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, ca. November 1921, as ‘La buire et la soupière’ (Fr. 35,000 for five watercolours by Cézanne) [see bill of sale of Galerie Bernheim-Jeune to Kojiro Matsukata, dated 10 November 1921, in Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris; copy in NMWA curatorial files]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.

Exhibition History

1920: Cézanne Watercolors, Montross Gallery, New York, 10 February 1920 - 21 February 1920
1924: French Art, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 0 1924 - 0 1925, p. 15, cat. no. painting-5
1947: Les origines de l'art contemporain: la peinture française de Manet à Bonnard, Strasbourg Museum (also shown at Besançon and Nancy), 27 September 1947 - 0 0, cat. no. 56
1958: De l'Impressionnisme à nos jours: aquarelles, pastels, gouaches, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 27 June 1958 - 0 0, cat. no. 29, pl. 6
1960: Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 14 May 1960 - 10 July 1960, cat. no. 10
1982: Cézanne, Musée Saint-Georges, Liège, 12 March 1982 - 9 May 1982, cat. no. 30, col. repr.
1986: Cézanne, Isetan Museum of Art, 18 September 1986 - 7 October 1986, The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 10 Octber 1986-9 November 1986, The Aichi Prefectural Art Gallery, 15 November 1986-4 December 1986, cat. no. 52, col. repr.
1989: Paul Cézanne: Die Badenden, Kunstmuseum Basel, 11 July 1989 - 17 September 1989
1989: The Old Matsukata Collection, Kobe City Museum, 14 September 1989 - 26 November 1989, cat. no. 37, col. repr.
1989: The Old Matsukata Collection, Kobe City Museum, 14 September 1989 - 26 November 1989, cat. no. 37
1996: The Crossing Visions: European and Modern Japanese Art from the Collections of The National Museum of Western Art & The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July 1996 - 8 September 1996, cat. no. 23
1997: Expressiveness of Materials, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 19 April 1997 - 22 June 1997, cat. no. 23
2001: French Masterpiece Drawings from The National Museum of Western Art Collection, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 27 March 2001 - 24 June 2001
2010: Modern Drawings from the National Museum of Western Art: Selections from the Matsukata Collection and Post-1959 Acquisitions, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 23 February 2010 - 30 May 2010, cat. no. 10
2019: The Matsukata Collection: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey: Upon the 60th Anniversary of the NMWA, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 11 June 2019 - 23 September 2019, cat. no. 123, col. repr.
2021: Cézanne: Drawing, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 6 June 2021 - 25 September 2021, cat. no. 50

Bibliography

1936: Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne, son art, son œuvre. Paris, 1936 , no. 848.
1948: Dorival, Bernard. Cézanne. Paris, 1948, repr. pl. XVII.
1955: La Collection Matsukata. Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 , no. 20. (in Japanese)
1958: Neumeyer, Alfred, Cézanne Drawings. New York/ London, 1958, p. 52, pl. 56.
1960: Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection (exh. cat.). [Tokyo], [The National Museum of Western Art], [1960], cat. no. 10
1961: Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-44, repr.
1964: Guide du Musée national d'art occidental: Guide to the National Museum of Western Art. [Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art], 1964, pp. [42, 69.], P-44. repr.
1969: Les cent chefs-d'oeuvre du musée national d'art occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, c1969, cat. no. 10, repr.
1982: Cézanne: Liège, Musée Saint-Georges du 12 mars au 9 mai 1982 (exh. cat.). [Bruxelles], Crédit communal de Belgique, 1982, pp. 112-113, cat. no. 30, col. repr.
1984: Rewald, John. Les aquarelles de Cézanne: catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1984, no. 294.
1986: Cézanne (exh.cat.). Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo, 18 September-7 October, 1986; The Hyogo Perfectural Museum of Modern Art, Kobe, 10 October-9 November 1986; The Aichi Perfectural Art Gallery, 15 November-4 December 1986. Tokyo, The Tokyo Shimbun, cat. no. 52.
1989: Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 80, col. repr.
1989: The Old Matsukata Collection (exh. cat.). Kobe City Museum, ed. [Kobe], "Matsukata Collection Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1989, pp. 35, 165, cat. no. 37, col. repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 376.
1990: Inoue, Akihiko: Ono, Masaharu. Cézanne Aquarelle. Kyoto, Korinsha, 1990, cat. no. 8. (in Japanese)
1996: The crossing visions: European and modern Japanese art: from the collection of the National Museum of Western Art & the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (exh.cat.). The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 20 July-8 September 1996, The National Museum of Western Art; The National Museum of Modern Art, cat. no. 23.
1997: Expressiveness of Materials (exh.cat.). The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 17 April-22 June 1997. The National Museum of Western Art; The National Museum Art, Osaka, cat. no. 5', list. no. 23.
2010: Modern Drawings from the National Museum of Western Art: Selections from the Matsukata Collection and Post-1959 Acquisitions (exh. cat.). Jingaoka, Megumi; The National Museum of Western Art, eds. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The Western Art Foundation, 2010, pp. 36-38, cat. no. 10, col. repr.
2019: The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 2: Sculpture, Drawings, Prints and Decorative Arts and Other Works, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2019, cat. no. 1486, col. repr.
2019: The Matsukata Collection: A One-Hundred-Year Odyssey (exh. cat.). Jingaoka, Megumi, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of the Western Art, Tokyo; Yomiuri Shimbun; NHK; NHK Promotions, 2019, pp. 214, 216, 370, cat. no. 123, col. repr.
2021: Cézanne Drawing (exh. cat.). Hauptman, Jodi; Friedman, Samantha, eds. New York, The Museum of Modern Art, 2021, pp. 60, 210, cat. no. 50, col. repr.

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