The Pear as Artistic Muse: From Cézanne to Kusama

The pear, botanically a false fruit, has been a recurring motif in art history, serving as a versatile subject for exploration of form, color, and meaning. In the 17th century, Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, gardener to Louis XIV, cultivated 500 pear varieties so the Sun King could enjoy a different one daily. Paul Cézanne painted dozens of pears, using their recognizable shape to experiment with variations in form and color, from the round Decana del Comizio to the elongated Conference. Surrealists like Max Ernst, Man Ray, and René Magritte incorporated pears into their works, with Ernst's 'La poire qui me ressemble' (1925) and Magritte's 'Les Moyens d'Existence. Rose et Poire' (1966). From the 1960s, Jirí Kolár created two- and three-dimensional pear works, enclosing decontextualized images within the pear silhouette. In Italy, Concetto Pozzati produced vibrant pear-themed pieces like 'Pere domestiche a prezzo speciale' (1967) and 'La pera è la pera' (1968). Enzo Mari's 1963 pear poster became an iconic symbol of simplicity. Honoré Daumier's 1831 caricature 'Les Poires' transformed King Louis-Philippe's face into a pear shape, sparking political graffiti in Paris. The article also mentions pears by Jean Fautrier (1926-1942), Yayoi Kusama, and Alik Cavaliere, whose works are on view at Palazzo Reale in Milan until September 9.