Over the course of his career, the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) painted some 160 portraits, almost always representing his inner circle of close friends, family, or peasant workers from his hometown of Aix-en-Provence. While the identity of the young woman in Jeune fille à la poupée [Girl with a Doll] is unknown, Cézanne was clearly fascinated by her physical presence. Focusing on her strong jawline and steadfast, focused gaze, Cézanne created two portraits of this sitter, each with special attention and detail paid to her expression and features, showing a tenderness to the artist’s approach. The second portrait, the smaller of the two paintings, today can be found in the collection of the National Museum of Art Bucharest.

Before undertaking this portrait, Cézanne had rarely painted children, apart from a few portraits of his young son. The model in Jeune fille à la poupée [Girl with a Doll] seems mature beyond her years; she sits with the calm patience of an adult, wearing a somber expression while she gently cradles her small doll in her arms. Her dignified seated pose recalls the traditions of classical portraiture, suggesting Cézanne’s aim: “I want to make of impressionism something solid and lasting, like the art in the museums.” While portraits such as Jeune fille à la poupéé [Girl with a Doll] are rooted in the past, reflecting Cézanne’s study of the old masters, they are at the same time radically modern in their construction of space and form.

Featuring the “constructive brushstrokes” typical of Cézanne’s modern visual language — subtle variations in tone that create dimension—the painter uses shimmering shades of blue, green, taupe, peach, and lavender to construct the forms of the sitter and the wall behind her. By leaving passages of the canvas untouched, as seen in the glimpse of white ground visible between the girl’s intertwined fingers, he draws attention to the painterly process.