ArcadópolisEspañol
Table with a white cloth, a large pink-lipped shell, a cup, a lemon, a vase and a black clock with a white face

The Black Marble Clock

Paul Cézanne, c. 1870

What you see

A table covered with a white cloth fills almost the entire lower half. On it, at left, lies a large seashell with a pink lip; at the center are a cup and saucer, a lemon and a glass vase. On the right, farther back, stands a black clock with a white face, topped by two pink ornaments.

The blacks of the background and the whites of the cloth dominate, and only the pink of the shell and the yellow of the lemon add warmth. The cloth is painted in broad, thick strokes, its folds marked by dark lines. Spot the gold ring around the clock face and for the small decorated box beside the clock.

About Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne lived mostly in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, and painted with endless patience: sometimes an apple took so long to paint that it rotted. He built his pictures with brushstrokes like small bricks of colour. Picasso called him “the father of us all”.

All 10 works by Paul Cézanne

More by Paul Cézanne

The Arcadópolis Museum has 443 public-domain works in 40 rooms, free to explore in 3D in your browser.