Paul Cézanne
Cezanne was living here in 1870 with Hortense Fiquet, a relationship he concealed from his father for years because his allowance depended on it.
53 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs
Still standing
Outside only
Someone else
Where Paul Cézanne was living in 1870 with Hortense Fiquet — a relationship he concealed from his father for years, because the allowance he lived on depended on him being single.
- 53 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, 75006 Paris
- Cézanne's address in 1870, living with Hortense Fiquet
The place, briefly
Paul Cézanne met Hortense Fiquet, a bookbinder and artist's model eleven years younger than him, around 1869. By 1870 they were living together at this address on the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs.
The secrecy is the point. Cézanne lived on an allowance from his father, and he judged — probably correctly — that admitting to a mistress would end it. He concealed the relationship for years, including the birth of their son Paul in 1872. His father found out eventually, in the mid-1870s, through gossip.
Hortense sat for him more than any other model: something close to thirty portraits over decades, unsmiling, patient, and painted with the same detached structural attention he gave to apples. Whether that reads as coldness or as a particular kind of regard is one of the standing arguments about him.
They married in 1886, shortly before his father died. The building is private.
Key facts
- 1870
- Hortense Fiquet, whom he met around 1869
- Concealed from his father, on whose allowance he lived
- Paul, born 1872, also kept hidden
- Hortense sat for something close to thirty paintings
- Private — exterior only
Timeline
Cézanne meets Hortense Fiquet.
They are living together at 53 rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs.
Their son Paul is born; the family is still concealed from Cézanne's father.
They marry, months before his father's death.
On the map
Questions before you go
Why did Cézanne hide his relationship with Hortense Fiquet?
He depended on an allowance from his father and believed a mistress and child would end it. He concealed both for years, and his father learned of them through gossip.
How often did Hortense Fiquet sit for him?
Around thirty portraits across several decades — more than any other model he used.
People who knew this place
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