Cezanne at The Courtauld Gallery

The Cézanne’s Card Players exhibition, organised by The Courtauld Gallery in London and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, will be top of list of art lovers visiting London this Christmas. Described by Cézanne’s early biographer, Gustav Coquiot, as being “equal to the most beautiful works of art in the world”, the exhibition presents a unique opportunity to enjoy these remarkable paintings in unprecedented depth.

The first mention of the Card Players series comes in 1891 when the writer Paul Alexis visited Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence and found the artist painting a local peasant from the farm on his estate, the Jas de Bouffan. A number of different farm workers came to sit for him over the years, often smoking their clay pipes. They included an old gardener known as le père Alexandre and Paulin Paulet, who posed as the figure seated on the left in The Card Players, a task for which he was paid five francs.

Exclusively created for the Cézanne's Card Players exhibition, on view at The Courtauld Gallery until 16 January 2011, are a range of silver and ceramic jewellery. Hand-crafted, the jewellery is designed by Cardiff-based husband and wife Geffen and Noa Blok and includes Queen of Hearts and Ace of Hearts pendants and earrings (pendants £30 to £35, earrings £35).

Also available is an amusing range of fine bone china includes mugs and plates with playing card designs by Jan Constantine, each piece hand-made by William Edwards in Stoke on Trent (£12 to £30). German ceramist Bernhard Kuehn has created an over-the-top collection of hand-made porcelain in which he uses the “perfectly imperfect” shape of the napkin ring, playing card or dice, some plated in gold or platinum (gold-plated dice £35, napkin rings £20 each).

If you can’t make it to museum located at Somerset House, then you can still do a bit of Christmas shopping online at www.courtauldshop.com