On the Boat|Paul Cézanne |Search Collection | The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 29 September 2026

Currently not on display

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Currently not on display

Paul Cézanne

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

On the Boat

Date	1900-06
Materials and Techniques	pencil and watercolour on paper
Size（cm）	12.5 x 22.0
Inscriptions	Paginated lower right: XXX
Credit Line	Matsukata Collection
Standard ref.	Venturi 1116; Rewald 604; M1487
Category	Drawings
Collection Number	D.1959-0007

This rough sketch is among the works executed by Cézanne during his later years. It appears that three men are aboard a boat on a lake; however, it is difficult to know for sure, since the shapes are even less distinctly defined than those in his sketch "Pot and Soup Tureen." The roughly painted areas of blue and green, which appear to represent mountains and foliage in the background, create a vibrating effect suggestive of light. In this respect, this work resembles an Informel abstract painting. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)

Provenance

Estate of Paul Cézanne, Paris; Galerie Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1907; purchased from Galerie Bernheim-Jeune by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe, ca. November 1921, as ‘En bateaux’ (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

1924: French Art, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 0 1924 - 0 1925, cat. no. painting-6
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. 52
1953: Cézanne; peintures, aquarelles, dessins, Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, 30 July 1953 - 5 August 1953, Musée Masséna, Nice, 8 August – 12 September 1953; Musée des beaux-arts, Grenoble, 15 September – 18 October 1953, cat. no. 46.
1958: De l'Impressionnisme à nos jours: aquarelles, pastels, gouaches, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, 27 June 1958 - 0 0, cat. no. 30
1960: Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 14 May 1960 - 10 July 1960, cat. no. 11
1974: Cézanne, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 30 March 1974 - 19 May 1974, cat. no. 81
1982: Paul Cézanne: Aquarelle, Kunsthalle Tübingen, 16 January 1982 - 21 March 1982, Kunsthaus Zürich April 1982, cat. no. 121, col. repr.
1984: Paul Cézanne, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, 0 March 1984 - 0 April 1984, cat. no. 64, col. repr.
1989: Master Drawings: Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 7 October 1989 - 26 November 1989
1997: Resonating Love and Life: European Art from National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka, 12 April 1997 - 18 May 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, exhibited 27 March - 13 May
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. 11
2012: Cézanne. Paris-Provence, The National Art Center, Tokyo, 28 March 2012 - 11 June 2012, cat. no. 54, col. repr.
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. 124, col. repr.
2022: Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin, The National Museum of Western Art, 8 October 2022 - 22 January 2023, The National Museum of Art, Osaka, 4 Febrary 2023-21 May 2023, cat. no. 7, col repr.

Bibliography

1936: Venturi, Lionello. Cézanne, son art, son œuvre. Paris, 1936, no. 1116.
1940: Paul Cézanne: 1858-1885. 2vols, Tokyo, Takamizawamokuhansha, 1940, cat. no. 1045.
1955: La Collection Matsukata. Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955, no. 21. (in Japanese)
1959: Mizue : a monthly review of the fine arts. no. 651, Special Number, July 1959 (in Japanese)
1960: Masterpieces of the Ex-Matsukata Collection (exh. cat.). [Tokyo], [The National Museum of Western Art], [1960], cat. no. 11
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-45.
1961: Sekai Bijutsu Zenshu. vol. 36, Tokyo, Kadokawa-shoten, 1961, repr. p. 260. (in Japanese)
1962: Cézanne. Tokyo, Heibonsha, 1962, (Master Pieces of the World, 9), p. 46, pl. 32, 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. [43, 69], P-45
1974: Exposition Cézanne. Musée National d'Art Occidental, 30 March-19 May 1974; Musée de la Ville de Kyoto, 1 June-17 July 1974; Centre Culturel de Fukuoka, 24 July-18 August 1974. Tokyo, Yomiurishimbun, cat. no. 81.
1982: Paul Cézanne, Aquarelle (exh. cat.). Adriani, Götz. Köln, DuMont, 1982, p. 287, cat. no. 121, col. repr.
1984: Paul Cézanne (exh. cat.). Madrid, Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, [1984], pp. 202-203, cat. no. 64, repr.
1984: Rewald, John. Les aquarelles de Cézanne: catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1984, no. 604.
1989: Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1989 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 81, col. repr.
1990: The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 377.
1990: Inoue, Akihiko; Ono, Masaharu. Cézanne Aquarelle. Kyoto, Korinsha, 1990, cat. no. 15. (in Japanese)
1991: Barnes, Rachel, ed. Cézanne. Nagai, Takanori, trans. Tokyo, Nikkei Inc, 1991 (Nikkei Pocket Gallery) [Cézanne by Cézanne. Webb & Bower, Exeter, 1991], pp. 78-79. (in Japanese)
1997: Resonating Love and Life: European Art from National Museum of Western Art (exh. cat.). The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 12 April-18 May 1997. The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art; National Museum of Western Art, cat. no.23.
2001: French Masterpiece Drawings from the National Museum of Western Art Collection (exh. cat.). Watanabe, Shinsuke, ed. [Tokyo], The Western Art Foundation, 2001, p. [13]
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. 36-37, 39, cat. no. 11, col. repr.
2012: Cézanne.: Paris-Provence(exh. cat.). [Tokyo], Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., c2012, cat. no. 54, 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. 1487, 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, 216-217, 370, cat. no. 124, col. repr.
2022: Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin (exh. cat.). Murakami, Hiroya, ed. Tokyo, Kyodo News, 2022, pp. 50-51, cat. no. 7, col. repr.

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