Roses in a Bottle 1900 - 1904

Paul Cézanne painted ‘Roses in a Bottle’ with watercolour and graphite on paper. The rosebuds are evoked with loose brushstrokes, pinks and reds bleeding into creams, all balanced on a translucent blue bottle. The image has probably come into being bit by bit. Layer upon layer. It’s a back and forth, between observation, memory, and the pure joy of pushing colour around. I bet that Cézanne was thinking about more than just roses and bottles; probably trying to grasp the fleeting beauty of nature and the challenge of capturing its essence on paper. Take a close look at the lines. See how they define the shapes, giving them volume and presence. I'm thinking of Manet and the way he was always trying to rethink pictorial space and composition. With this piece, there’s a similar tension between flatness and depth, making us question what we see. Painters are constantly talking to each other through time, and what is left behind is an invitation to keep the conversation going.