Portrait of the Painter Armand Guillaumin by Paul Cézanne, 1839-1906

Paul Cézanne, 1839-1906
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Portrait of the Painter Armand Guillaumin

Original etching in black ink. 1873. Exceptionally rare early lifetime impression, probably one of the very few proofs (perhaps 20?) printed on Dr Gachet's press, Auvers
1873. (Before the oxidisation and rust marks seen on the plate in the first issued edition).
Provenance: Purchased Drouot Paris March 1926 (pencil inscription).
Ref: Cherpin - Cézanne Prints no 2. Venturi 1159

Exceptionally fine rich impression with no oxidisation. On antique laid geenish tinted paper with the Pro Patria watermark. Excellent original condition; not restored. Full margins. Sheet: 11 3/4 x 7 1/2ins. Plate: 6 1/4 x 4 5/8ins (158x 116mm)

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This impression of Cézanne's portrait of his friend the painter Armand Guillaumin is an extremely rare early lifetime proof, probably one of the very few impressions printed by Cézanne on the press of his friend Dr Gachet, in whose studio he etched the plate in 1873. Printed onto a sheet of antique (early 19th century or before) greenish-tinted laid paper (with the Pro Patria watermark) it is before the rust spots and plate oxidistaion found on the impressions of the first published edition (printed for Duret in 1906). The paper is similar to other sheets that we have seen for prints pulled at Dr Gachet's studio by Pissarro and Guillaumin. These first proofs of Cézanne's etchings are extremely rare.

In 1873 Cézanne was staying at Auvers with his friend and early patron Dr Gachet. At the same date Pissarro and Guillaumin were also staying with Gachet. Gachet was himself an enthusiastic amateur artist and etcher, and he encouraged all the painters to experiment with the medium. Both Pissarro and Guillaumin went on to have an extensive etched oeuvre, but Cézanne made his only etchings whilst staying with Gachet.

Cézanne's first attempt in etching was a study of barges on the Seine based on a painting by Guillaumin, and he followed this with the portrait study of Guillaumin above. The etching was almost certainly drawn onto the plate from life, perhaps during a walk with Guillaumin in the village of Auvers for in the top left corner of the image is a sketch of a hanged man, a reference to the building known as the 'house of the hanged man' in Auvers.