Young Girl at the piano

A hushed afternoon unfolds in this domestic scene by Paul Cézanne, where two women pass the time absorbed in their own quiet activities. At the piano sits a young woman in a flowing white dress, her fingers resting on the keys, while behind her another woman leans into her sewing on a deep red sofa. The two figures are believed to be members of Cézanne's own family, his sister Marie playing music and their mother busy with needlework. The full title is sometimes given as "Girl at the Piano (Overture to Tannhäuser)," a small tribute to the composer Richard Wagner, whose music Cézanne loved.

Made around 1869, this comes from the early part of Cézanne's career, long before his name became tied to the birth of modern art. Even so, his fascination with weight and structure is already showing, seen in the bulky patterned sofa and the busy swirling design on the wall behind it. The palette leans toward muted browns and earthy tones, worlds away from the bright colors of the Impressionists he would later show his work beside. A calm settles over everything, a feeling of slow ordinary hours that makes the room feel both familiar and slightly strange.

Cézanne is said to have returned to this subject more than once, wrestling with it until it satisfied him. That stubborn patience became his signature, as he spent his life quietly reworking his ideas until they changed the course of painting for good.