Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

The first recorded owner of the present work was notable collector, and early Cézanne supporter, Charles Alexander Loeser. Born in Brooklyn in 1864, Loeser moved to Florence after graduating from Harvard in 1888. He bought his first Cézanne painting from Ambroise Vollard in 1896 and would come to own 15 works by the artist by the time he died in 1928. His collection spanned well beyond the work of Cézanne and would grow to include over 1,000 pieces of art ranging from furniture and ceramics to paintings and sculpture. Upon his death, Loeser bequeathed 260 prints and drawings to the Fogg Museum, Harvard University and over 30 works to the city of Florence that are now housed in the Palazzo Vecchio.