Grapes and Peach on a Plate (Grappe de raisin et pêche sur une assiette)

This Barnes Foundation work of grapes and a peach on a plate from around 1877-1878 exemplifies Cézanne's early mastery of the intimate fruit study. Unlike his complex multi-object arrangements, this simple composition focuses all attention on the formal relationship between two types of fruit. Grapes — with their clustered, irregular form — contrast with the smooth, simple sphere of the peach, the two together providing complementary formal problems. The Barnes Foundation's extraordinary Cézanne collection, assembled by Albert Barnes from the early twentieth century onward, preserves an unparalleled concentration of his work in Philadelphia.

The grape cluster is built from multiple small strokes capturing the individual berries within the overall mass, while the peach is described with broader, smoothly modulated color passages. The plate beneath provides geometric grounding. An early example of Cézanne's color modulation technique for building rounded forms.