Still Life with a Teapot

Image credit: Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

Cézanne painted still lifes throughout his career, but the greatest of them date from his last years. This composition of 1902–1906 is one of several with fruit, vegetables, crockery and pieces of cloth arranged on a table which still survives in his studio at Aix. The objects relate to the folds of the table carpet like motifs in a landscape. Perspective has been manipulated and details, such as the knob of the teapot lid, have been supressed to emphasise the autonomy of form over subject matter. As David Sylvester observed in 1962: 'As we look at the four spheres embraced by the ellipse of a plate in Still Life with Teapot, we don't really know if they are and which of them are apples, oranges, apricots and we don't care. What we know as we look at them, know it physically in our bodies, is the feeling of having the shape of a sphere, a shape that is perfectly compact, a shape that can touch similar shapes at one point only, a shape which has a very precise centre of gravity'.

Title

Still Life with a Teapot

Date

1902–1906

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 61.4 x W 74.3 cm

Accession number

NMW A 2440

Acquisition method

bequeathed by Gwendoline Davies, 1951

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

National Museum Cardiff

Cathays Park, Cardiff (Caerdydd) CF10 3NP Wales

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue