Nature Morte au Compotier, Private collection

At first, we were quiet, just taking in Cézanne's painting. On its left was a green glazed olive jar of the sort that was in my kitchen and Louise's, and to its right, nearly touching it, a plump blue-gray ginger jar with willow netting encasing it. Further to the right was a white porcelain compote dish containing apples. Tilted precariously in the foreground on a bunched-up white tablecloth, a small white plate spilled over with oranges. And one yellow pear stood by itself.

"All the colors of Roussillon are swirled onto that fruit," I said. "And the blue cloth with shadings of darker blue is what I imagine the Mediterranean Sea to be like. I love it."

[Note: Elements of these three paintings are combined to make the fictitious painting described here.]