Portrait of the painter Achille Emperaire FWN423 1867/68 100cm x 122
Wow – this is a painting and a half, and not just in its size! Immediately after the death of Ingres in 1867, the Ecole de Beaux-arts had organized a major exhibition of his work, among which was the painting ‘Napoleon I, on his imperial throne’ with the subtitle ‘Emperor Napoleon of Art’. This is Cezanne’s idea of an Emperor of Art! and his representation of the nobility of humanity - ACHILLE EMPERAIRE PEINTRE. One of Cezanne’s most ambitious paintings to date; Cezanne said of Achille Emperaire, ten years his senior, that he was “a burning soul, nerves of steel, an iron pride in a misshapen body, a flame of genius” – they were good friends, and fellow artist companions. Through-out his life, Achille placed his art before his personal well-being, and I think it was that dedication that Cezanne most admired, and feared; Achille died a pauper. Cezanne was still searching for a way to focus the energy he felt within, but at this time in his development, the energy expressed itself as a fight with officialdom (the Salon). He submitted this, and two other paintings to the Annual Salon in 1870; he was interviewed, and was characterized for the front page of a magazine (Stock), and lambasted from all sides. But Cezanne was in no mood to compromise: “yes, Monsieur Stock, I paint as I see, as I feel. They also feel and see like me, but they don’t dare. I dare. And he who laughs last, laughs best”. The paintings, as usual, were refused by the Salon. And so it came to pass – later in 1870, the self-styled Emperor Napoleon took France into a brutal war with Prussia which ended with Paris occupied, Alsace-Lorraine annexed, and the Emperor humiliated. Cezanne exchanged this painting (and many others) for paint and blank canvasses in Pere Tanguy’s art and paint craft shop in Montmartre. Pere Tanguy says he hid it away in the back of the shop, because he feared Cezanne would one day destroy it in a fit of rage, (as he had done with the other painting of the female form also submitted). Four years after Cezanne’s death, in 1910, it sold for 45,000 French francs.
Cezanne took his friend Achille’s determination to heart, and made it his own; resolving never to let money be more important than his art. One of Cezanne’s favourite authors was Horace:
“I must desert the moneyed ranks to join the poor camp of the richly satisfied.”
Horace