This seventh volume in the series of online monographic studies of artists in the museum’s Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection grew out of the exhibition dedicated to Cezanne organized by the Art Institute of Chicago in collaboration with Tate Modern, London, in 2022–23. That retrospective brought together curators, conservators, and conservation scientists whose work on the Art Institute’s paintings and watercolors laid the foundation for subsequent studies by the authors of this volume. Critical to both the 2022 catalogue and this current volume was the research and writing of the 2022 exhibition curatorial team, including Caitlin Haskell, the late Achim Borchardt-Hume, Kathryn Kremnitzer, and Natalia Sidlina.

This digital scholarly catalogue has relied on the knowledge, enthusiasm, and tireless effort put forth over several years by numerous individuals both within the Art Institute and beyond its walls. We are particularly grateful to Mary Winton Green for establishing the David and Mary Winton Green Research Fund, which provided a tremendous financial contribution to the research expenses. We are grateful as well for the ongoing and extraordinary support of James Rondeau, President and Eloise W. Martin Director of the Art Institute, and Sarah Guernsey, Deputy Director and Senior Vice President for Curatorial Affairs.

Cezanne Paintings and Watercolors at the Art Institute of Chicago is a testament to the expertise and dedication of our talented authors and scientific contributors. Paul Smith collaborated closely with Kim Muir, the coeditor of this volume, and Giovanni Verri, to rigorously investigate Cezanne’s paintings, leading to new insights and approaches. Fabienne Ruppen and Kristi Dahm brought the same intensity of scholarship and technical study to our collection of watercolors. The curatorial and conservation entries were greatly enhanced by the pigment analysis, multispectral imaging, and archival research undertaken by conservation scientists Clara Granzotto, Maria Kokkori, and Giovanni Verri. Paintings conservator Kelly Keegan carried out the challenging task of registering the technical images for the multilayer interactive image tool that so effectively facilitates exploration of the artist’s working process.

This project benefited from the tireless efforts and flexibility of staff in Painting and Sculpture of Europe, with special thanks to Kathryn Kremnitzer, former research associate, whose research for the 2022 exhibition has been so critical to this volume, and to Jena K. Carvana, curatorial associate, who exhaustively fact-checked each entry and carefully tracked down critical archival materials. Zahra Bahia, Emerson Bowyer, Leslie Carlson, Jacquelyn Coutré, Rebecca Long, Johnny Martinez, Andrea Morgan, and Trey Rossell all make this department function. We are also grateful to Kevin Salatino, and especially Jay Clarke and Emily Vokt Ziemba, in Prints and Drawings, for their review and fact-checking of the watercolor entries. The extensive research carried out for this project would also not have been possible without the help of the staff of the Art Institute’s Research Center, both past and present, including Jill Bugajski, Bart Ryckbosch, Violet Jaffe, Nathaniel Parks, and J. de la Torre.

Our colleagues in Conservation and Science, under the leadership of Francesca Casadio, Vice President and Grainger Executive Director, provided essential support. We are grateful to past and present colleagues: Gerrit Albertson, Mary Broadway, Christopher H. Brooks, Annette Gaspers, Allison Langley, Gillian Marcus, Sylvie Pénichon, Charles Pietraszewski, Katrina Rush, María Cristina Rivera Ramos, Mardy Sears, Julie Simek, Ken Sutherland, Jann Trujillo, Elizabeth Wigfield, and Daisy Wong. The purchase and maintenance of analytical equipment was made possible in part due to a grant from the Grainger Foundation. The capabilities for scientific analysis at the Art Institute were significantly enhanced by access to instrumentation and expertise at Northwestern University, thanks to our longstanding institutional collaboration in conservation science. We particularly thank present and former Northwestern colleagues Tirzah Abbot, Alicia McGeachy, Marc Vermeulen, and Marc Walton. This work made use of the EPIC facility (RRID: SCR_026361) of Northwestern University’s NUANCE Center, which has received support from the IIN and Northwestern’s MRSEC program (NSF DMR-2308691). The accurate registration of images for overlays and annotations used technology developed by John K. Delaney, Senior Imaging Scientist at the National Gallery of Art, and professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the George Washington University; and Murray H. Loew, professor, and Damon M. Conover, former graduate research assistant, Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Washington University. Don H. Johnson, J. S. Abercrombie Professor Emeritus, Rice University, provided automated thread counts and weave analyses that have enabled comparative study of canvas characteristics among the paintings.

This hybrid of scholarly publication and technological interactivity has demanded an innovative publishing template and a dynamic team. In Publishing, under the leadership of Associate Vice President Katie Reilly, we give special thanks to Nora McGreevy for her editorial oversight of the project; Armando Román, who executed the design and obtained images and image rights; Katie Brennan, freelance editor, who meticulously edited the texts; Isella Sandoval, for handling administrative details; and Lauren Makholm and Lisa Meyerowitz, for their guidance. The Imaging team, led by Bonnie Rosenberg, produced the magnificent high-resolution and technical images and archival photography of the works included in this volume. Nathan Keay, Robert Lifson, Joe Tallarico, Jonathan Mathias, and Juan Molina Hernández shot beautiful photography, and Elyse M. Allen with Kaitlyn Fultz-Campion and Hayley Hinsberger handled production and post-production. Led by Josh Andrews and nikhil trivedi in Experience Design, Trevin Alonzo, Zach Garwood, and Alexis Vogel continue to improve upon a user-friendly platform that serves this and future digital publications, ensuring their longevity and accessibility to readers around the world.

Many individuals beyond the museum lent their invaluable technical expertise and extensive knowledge about Cezanne to this project. First and foremost, the editors thank Richard Shiff, the preeminent Cezanne scholar who taught all of us to “see” Cezanne as the unique artist he is and to understand why he represents the “End of Impressionism.” Our deepest gratitude goes to Jayne Warman, who served as reader for this volume. As one of the three authors of the Cezanne online catalogue raisonné, Jayne shared her tremendous knowledge based on decades of research and careful looking. The authors also thank Michela Bassu, Barbara Buckley, Denis Coutagne, Walter Feilchenfeldt, John Griswold, Markus Gross, Charlotte Hale, Jodi Hauptman, Ann Hoenigswald, David Horowitz, Elodie Huillier, Mary Morton, Fabienne Morucci, Laura Neufeld, Devi Ormond, Laura Perramond, Evan Read, Dane Reeb, Elisabeth Reissner, Judith Rosenthal, Annegret Seger, Anya Shutov, Friederike Steckling, Emily Talbot, Amira Tarhouni, and Jennifer Thompson. Their efforts have ensured that this publication will be a valuable resource to Cezanne scholars—and the general public—for years to come.

Gloria Groom
Chair and David and Mary Winton Green Curator
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
The Art Institute of Chicago

Kim Muir
Research Conservator for Paintings
The Art Institute of Chicago