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Paul Cezanne (January 19, 1839 - October 22, 1906)
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"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art."
-Paul Cezanne |
The Card Players |
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Often described
as the 'Father of Modern Art', Cezanne was a visionary
ahead of his times. The 20th century art has been
greatly influenced by his innovative style of
painting, composition, use of color and perspective.
Cezanne has also inspired many generations of
modern artists. Paul Cezanne paintings are unique
as the he was highly creative and passionate about
color, and his brush strokes were solid, durable
and above all structured. Picasso has been quoted
as saying that 'My one and only master . . . Cezanne
was like the father of us all". Picasso also developed
Cezanne's two-dimensional compositions into 'Cubism'.
Paul Cezanne paintings are considered as great symbols of Post-Impressionism
due to his analytical approach to nature and his unique method of building form by using color.
His style of painting has been revered by Fauvists, Cubists, and entire generations of avant-garde
painters. |
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Cezanne began painting in 1860
in his place of birth Aix-en-Provence and later moved to Paris to study. Paul Cezanne paintings during
the early phase (1860s) of his career were based on romantic and classical themes. The colors were dark,
and the brush strokes were expressive and similar to Eugene Delacroix's traditional style.
Soon the brooding color schemes were replaced by vibrant tones and Paul Cezanne paintings
started depicting the outdoors. He was encouraged by Camille Pissarrom the Cezanne's 'Bathers' (1874-75) was one of the first paintings of this theme and demonstrated a
more developed style and tonality that won a permanent place in his oeuvre. The 'Bathers' drew
inspiration from two sources - nature and memory - which would become a consistent theme for all
Paul Cezanne paintings including 'The Fishermen (Fantastic Scene)' (1875).
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During the still life painting phase
(mid 1870 onwards), Cezanne began to drift toward the geography and symmetry of form and color
by using tonal variations or 'constructive brush strokes' in order to provide depth to objects
in his paintings. Paul Cezanne paintings such as 'Still Life with Jar, Cup and Apples', 'Still Life
with Apples and a Pot of Primroses (1890's) are mature pieces of work which portray the master's grasp
of the Impressionist style of building forms just from the use of color and by composing exciting
backgrounds by expert use of perspective. Paul Cezanne's still life paintings allow every object
freedom in the picture and attribute characters crafted through the use of extremely subtle
radiations of color. |
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Cezanne began painting landscapes
of his birthplace Aix and a small fishing village near Marseille from 1882. In an attempt to achieve
the main objective of creating depth, he devised a system of layers, which eventually created series
of horizontal planes thereby drawing the viewer's attention into the realms of the landscape.
Examples of this technique can be seen in 'Mont Sainte-Victoire', 'Viaduct of
the Arc River Valley', and 'The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L'Estaque'. Paul Cezanne paintings much like the 'Gardanne', which depicts a landscape created with intense volumetric
geometric patterns is the painting that laid the foundation of Cubism. |
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| Some other highly-regarded Paul Cezanne paintings include the five pictures series (1890) of peasants' playing cards. The second in
this series - 'The Card Players' is feted as the finest figure compositions painted by the artist. |
| Cezanne received immense recognition
and worldwide appreciation, but posthumously. During his lifetime, Paul Cezanne was the ultimate outsider
and completely misunderstood individual. Success for him came little and too late but left behind
irreplaceable artistic legacy! |
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"It took me 40 years to find out that
painting is not sculpture." - Paul Cezanne |
