Cézanne’s Model – A Poem

My inspiration for this poem came from The Met description of Dish of Apples.

The Met pointed out that the napkin in this painting is shaped like Mont Sante-Victorie near Aix-en-Provence in southern France. Cézanne’s father had a house in Aix. It’s likely that the blue screen (paravent) in the background of this painting was painted when Cézanne was young, possibly in his father’s house. It made me wonder if Cézanne painted these apples while in his father’s house also, and what else he may have got up to while he was there.

The form here is a dansa. More of my ekphrastic poetry here. I have another poem based on Cézanne’s work here.

Cézanne’s Model

Is there is a message from you
hidden here beneath the paint,
and the blue paravent, a quaint
décor you painted in youth,
that hides me from the artist’s view.

In the napkin’s swell, you acquaint
us with Mont Sainte-Victoire. Restraint
shown, with apples as a valley in lieu,
that hides me from the artist’s view.

Teapot as a peak. A lone apple taints
the Mont tableau? Green, with a faint
blush – as I, nude behind the screen blue
that hides me from the artist’s view.

©elsp 2026