Cézanne's Towel. Discover the artist at the Junge Kunsthalle

28 October 2017 – 11 February 2018

Cézanne’s Towel – the title says it all: Beginning with a watercolour which shows a towel on the rack of a dressing table, the exhibition at the Junge Kunsthalle looks at the fluid transitions between motifs in the artist’s works.

On one painting, for example, what at first glance appears to be a jacket casually discarded on a chair can, on a second and third look, transform into a craggy landscape: the folds in the cloth evoke valleys in an alpine range, while the jacket viewed as a whole resembles a furrowed massif, so that you begin to wonder whether this is a still life or a landscape.

The exhibition at the Junge Kunsthalle invites young visitors to playfully discover this fluidity of forms, a special characteristic of Cézanne’s works, and opens up a view on his humorous approach to art. Through experiments, interactive games and changes in perspective, children and teenagers can experience for themselves how the artist excelled in metamorphosing his subjects. Moreover, they can draw, do watercolours, and paint in the workshops on the upper floor, taking their inspiration from works by Cézanne. 

The exhibition is complemented by works of the Dutch photographer Elmer de Haas that evidence the double-entendres in Cézanne’s art. The simultaneous presentation of the different perspectives chosen by the two artists generates a fascinating dialogue across the centuries.