Large Pine, Study 1890 - 1895

Curator: This is "Large Pine, Study" by Paul Cézanne, currently residing here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It feels like a fleeting glimpse, like catching a familiar face in a crowd. The sketchy lines give it an almost unfinished quality. Curator: Indeed. The pine, in many traditions, represents immortality and resilience. Here, though, it's presented as an intimate study, a moment captured rather than a grand statement. Editor: I get that. There's a gentleness to it. Not the imposing symbol of, say, a towering oak, but something more personal. The subtle greens and blues peek through those pencil strokes. Curator: Perhaps Cézanne found solace in the quiet strength of this particular pine. It invites us to consider the deeper symbolic weight of nature stripped down to its essential forms. Editor: It makes me think about the way we all leave impressions, like the ghost of a tree on a piece of paper. Something substantial, yet ephemeral.