# Hercules Resting

**Paul Cézanne** (French, 1839–1906)  
1897  
Graphite on ivory wove paper  
19.4 × 11.8 cm (7 11/16 × 4 11/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1998.695v. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/150834).

## About this work

Cézanne made this pencil drawing in 1897 after a sculpture of Hercules at rest, one of the many works of sculpture he studied in the Louvre and in plaster casts throughout his life. Copying sculpture let him concentrate on the turning planes and volumes of the body without the distractions of a living model. The searching, repeated contours, which never quite settle into a single outline, show his method of building form through many small adjustments.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Paul Cézanne painted this in 1897, aged 58. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of graphite on ivory wove paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Graphite.** Pencil. Graphite has been used for drawing since the 1500s; in 1795 Nicolas-Jacques Conté mixed it with clay, so its hardness could be graded.

### [Paul Cézanne](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/paul-cezanne)

French, 1839–1906; born in Aix-en-Provence; died in Aix-en-Provence

Cézanne divided his life between Paris and his native Aix-en-Provence. Encouraged by his schoolfriend Émile Zola and later by Pissarro, with whom he painted at Pontoise and Auvers in the 1870s, he showed at the first and third Impressionist exhibitions. He then withdrew to Provence and worked towards a more structured art, building form from patches of colour in still lifes, bathers and repeated views of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Younger painters, Picasso and Braque among them, saw him as a founder of modern painting.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: France
- The artist was 58
- Real size: about 7½ × 4½ in (19 × 11 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Post-Impressionism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/post-impressionism)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/332.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/332/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/hercules-resting-aic-150834).