Portrait of Madame Cézanne with Loosened Hair

The woman is Hortense Fiquet, and by the mid-1880s Cezanne had been painting her for over 15 years. She sat for him around 40 times, more than any other model, though by her own account she cared little for what he was doing. In 1886 the couple finally married, as his father lay dying and a family inheritance hung in the balance. Most of those portraits show her buttoned up and composed. Here her hair falls loose, her head tilts, her mouth turns down, and the whole face softens into something private. If the accepted dating holds, this is the last time he ever painted her.