The ferry at Bonnieres FWN42 1866 38cm x 61
Cezanne spent from May to August of 1866 on the other bank of the Seine from Bonnieres at Bennecourt, overlooking the ferry; he stayed at the local inn, run by Mr and Mrs Dumont, who seem to have delighted in offering space for artists, writers and other creatives. Cezanne needed a rest - hey, who cares if you have to ‘borrow’ 60 francs from the up-and-coming writer named Zola; who cares if the Paris Salon refuses your submissions; who cares if your best friend writer says “Paul is working well; I have much hope in him. But still, we expect him to be rejected for another 10 years!” Cezanne was doing what he liked – painting all day, chilled, and with mates coming up from Paris every weekend! In 1852, the new House of Commons on the banks of the Thames in London had installed the latest technology - gas lighting. It was a major boost for the Gas Industry. In France, the French entrepreneur J B Roux had developed his gas works at the same time; and by 1880, there were 1000 gas works through-out France; France had even started exporting its new technology. In this painting, Cezanne has two symbols vying for ascendancy: the chimney of the local gas works and the church steeple. In December 1864 the Pope had published a whole list of 80 heresies of the modern era (The Syllabus of Errors); I imagine Cezanne and his mates, sitting looking over the river at chimney and steeple, discussing and arguing, over a bottle of vin rouge de la maison, the future of these clashing symbols - religion and science. The Syllabus of Errors, the Pope’s critique of the Modern Era, represents the call for things to be unchanged in the face of scientific and technological development; a cry to remain in the Era of traditional values of belonging and closed community, but under a system of dominatory hierarchy and fixed, assigned roles, in which the Church has a central part, and spirituality is defined by religious adherence. The gas chimney represents the call of democratic power sharing, and change, but under a system which would become Western capitalism, and fluid, market-induced roles, in which Church influence would wane to insignificance, and spirituality would free itself from traditional forms of religious adherence. Humanity, as ever and now, is challenged to grow up; include the gold of the past, and move forward.
In this phase of his work, till 1870, Cezanne would continue to paint landscapes with some signs of increasing industrialization, and include people as well. Eventually, the industrial motifs would drop away, and he would cease to paint people in landscapes. This ferry painting is one of the first where Cezanne takes an interest in the landscape itself, rather than a mere backdrop for scenes of historic and allegoric significance (“Romantic painting”).
“I am seeing splendid things here, and will have to decide only to paint in the open”, he wrote to Zola, and, thus, in that magic moment, Cezanne accepted his calling: an invitation into the mystery of the ordinary was welling up in his soul.
Sit some time, and be still
be the pulse in your fingertips
hear the song of the colours around you
know the beauty of ordinary things.