Ashmolean Cezannes and the rest

So the Ashmolean yet again comes up with an exhibition that proves you don't have to pine for London galleries if you live in the Southern English sticks!

They have a paying exhibition on until 22nd June of works from the collection of mostly post-Impressionist work from the Henry and Rose Pearlman collection, which is normally exhibited at Princeton University Art Museum.

And there were a number of true beauties. The collection is centred around Cezanne. My favourite showed Cezanne's technique off a treat. Three Pears is an early work, once owned by Degas. I kept having to trot back to have another look.

Three Pears - Paul Cezanne (1888-90)

There were a few very fresh green dabs which lifted the whole thing and lots of bare cream laid paper coming through. It was scrumptious.

There was a great later still life too, you could see his numerous itchy marks making the objects shimmer.

Still Life with Carafe, Bottle & Fruit - Paul Cezanne (1906)

Also a lovely, loose Degas and I think six decent Soutines. All in all, you may know the artists' biggest of big-name pieces, but these paintings broadened my view of them and I don't expect to see many of them again.

An additional wonder: Kevin Coates's A Bestiary of Jewels finishes on 30th March. I include a piece below and if this doesn't whet your appetite to look up other images of his work, I don't know what will. The phenomenal creativity and the quality of the finish were amazing and I loved the layering. I've picked this piece because Ted Hughes's diabolical Crow always makes me grin wildly. The poem around the centre is Crow's Song of Himself. The middle is a circular brooch of Crow clinging to a black stone.

A Crow for Ted Hughes - Kevin Coates from A Bestiary of Jewels

There are more wonderful images on this link.
http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/2014/01/celebrated-british-artist-jeweller-kevin-coates-exhibits-his-bestiary-of-jewels-at-the-ashmolean-museum-in-oxford/