Ambroise Vollard: The Power of a Title

"Still Life with Apples" by Paul Cézanne

"There is the 'amateur' who likes a picture because of its title, even if the title has nothing to do with the subject. We all know the illustrious sculptor - 'the greatest of modern times,' according to his admirers - who called a study of a foot 'Rêve enchanté' ['Enchanted Dream']. Rodin, apparently knew to what extent a title may enhance the appeal of a work of art.

While on the subject of titles, I might recount the extraordinary avatars undergone by a picture of Cézanne's. I was holding an exhibition of this painter's work, including a picture of a shepherd and some naked women in a landscape. By mistake, the picture happened to be in a frame from which I had forgotten to remove the label, and this read: 'Diana and Actaeon.' In the press one art critic praised the noble attitude of the goddess and the modest air of the virgins surrounding her. He particularly admired the gesture of the attendant nymph at the entrance to the glade, who with her uplifted arm bade the intruder begone.

Sometime later I sent the picture to an exhibition after removing the unfortunate label from the frame. But the title in the catalogue mistakenly read 'Temptation of St. Anthony.' This time the art critic discovered the bewitching yet perfidious smile of the daughter of Satan. The repelling gesture of her outstretched arm changed to a seductive invitation, and so on. On the last day of the exhibition a collector who had refused the picture when it was called 'Diana and Actaeon' came to see me. He had in his hand a copy of the review in which the glowing article had appeared. 'I've just bought that 'Temptation,' he said. 'Its realism is admirable!'

When I asked Cézanne what the subject of his picture really was, he said, 'It has no subject. I was merely trying to render certain movements.'"

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Recollections of a Picture Dealer" by Ambroise Vollard.)