Stove in the atelier 1865

Curator: This is Paul Cézanne's "Stove in the Atelier," created around 1865. It's currently housed right here at the National Gallery. Editor: Immediately, it’s the stark, almost oppressive darkness that grabs me. It feels…enclosed. Curator: Interesting. For me, it’s the sheer physicality of the materials that sings out. Look at the thick impasto of the paint, almost sculpting the forms of the stove and the canvas behind it. Editor: Yes! The very tools and utilities for making more things! Is this a raw declaration about work? And the blackness... a bit like the raw matter from which all of these come, right? Curator: Absolutely, especially when considering how Cézanne often blurred the lines between the studio and still life subjects. I like the stove: the very center of the scene—maybe a humble source for that creative fire—while also a nod to warmth, daily life and basic sustenance for any toiling person. It's not something to get overly passionate or romantic about, but, a steady hum in life! Editor: That hum you speak of is present, though a bit ominous for me given the palette. Maybe this is because his dark period also marked when he did much poorer? Do you think about all those sacrifices the master artist might be confronting when taking breaks near the very warmth they provide... all to just to turn around and work more? Curator: I get that! Maybe there is this strange confliction: to me, that almost menacing palette actually amplifies the quiet strength and resilience found in the ordinary. He’s transforming the mundane, workhorse, and practical object into something monumental, isn't it? Editor: Absolutely, a bit of everyday alchemy! A real celebration, not of art, but a nod to where it is made. I’ll remember Cézanne's "Stove in the Atelier" very differently from now on. Curator: Indeed, seeing the intersection between labor, materiality, and domesticity is a perspective I would not have been ready for otherwise!