One Cézanne hid another: the beautiful discovery of the Cincinnati museum

“With this discovery, we have gone from two Cézanne to three in our collections.”

Even in the press releases, Serena Urry does not hide her joy.

The chief curator of the Cincinnati Museum of Art in Ohio, United States, on December 15 discovered an unknown painting by Cézanne, a portrait, nestled under the still life

, painted in 1865 and acquired by the American museum in 1955. This discovery was entirely by chance.

It all starts with a temporary exhibition, devoted to the still lifes of Cézanne, Pissarro “and their friends”.

At the moment of taking down the exhibition, the curator's eye is drawn to the cracks in the paint.

They seem to be concentrated in a single place on the painting - it's unusual - and under them, Serena Urry observes traces of white paint.

So she decides to have the painting x-rayed.

The results are convincing: under the bread and the glass of water, the ghostly image of a man, painted three-quarters.

More research to come

“The still life could be the first well-dated portrait of the artist.

It is certainly one of his most ambitious portrait compositions to date, and several characteristics suggest that it could be a self-portrait

, ”says the curator in a press release.

A discovery described as "huge" for the museum, which plans to continue its x-rays, in the hope of making new finds.

The establishment wishes to analyze the various portraits made by the painter to find new paintings buried and, possibly, to make a complete exhibition.