Harlequin

Paul Cezanne

National Gallery of Art

A cleanshaven man wearing a black and red diamond-patterned costume and holding a white wooden sword tucked under one arm stands in a room with a blue background in this vertical painting. The scene is loosely painted with visible brushstrokes that make patches of mottled color. The man stands with his body angled to our right and seems to look down in that direction, though the dark eyes are loosely painted. His right eyebrow, closer to us, is a dark, curving arch. Touches of pink suggest rosy cheeks, and only a subtle swipe of pink suggests a mouth, which appears to be missing when seeing this work from afar. An arctic-blue cap curves widely down over the ears like an upside-down crescent moon. Some transparent swipes of black could be a lace or feather collar around the costume’s neckline. The hand we see, near the end of the sword, is oversized and painted in tones of fog blue and beige. The right foot steps in front of the left. He wears black shoes, and the toes are turned out. The wall behind the man is dappled with spruce blue, laurel green, and some touches of pinkish tan. A darker baseboard separates the wall from the floor below, which is made with patches of sky blue, rust red, pale pink, and olive green. The swag of a curtain, in shades of goldenrod yellow and muted teal blue, hangs on the wall behind the person’s head.