Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
AHEAD OF HIS TIME
Although Paul Cézanne was a peer of the Impressionists, he always remained on the fringe of the movement. The methods he employed in his paintings relative to space, perspective, and composition were decidedly modern and foreshadowed early 20th-century artistic genres, especially Cubism, although this was not attributed to him until after his death.
Cézanne was born and raised in Aixen-Provence, France, where he grew up alongside celebrated French novelist Émile Zola. As a young man, Cézanne studied law and took art classes. In 1861, against his father’s wishes, he followed Zola to Paris to pursue a career in art.
In Paris, Cézanne met the Impressionists and became friends with Camille Pissarro; however, he never fully embraced the movement, opting instead to “make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums.” As such, Cézanne was less concerned with subject matter than he was with form and skill. A temperamental and emotional man prone to depression, Cézanne was riddled with self-doubt. He had few friends and after enduring myriad rejections by the Salon, he returned to Aix-en-Provence where he lived and painted in near seclusion until the end of his life.
Although Cézanne exhibited with the Impressionists in 1874 and 1877, it wasn’t until 1895 when he was invited to mount his first solo exhibition in Paris that he achieved any real degree of commercial success. By then, however, he was bitterly disillusioned and the accolades held little meaning. He died after a brief illness and was buried near his home. —RJR
Notable works: Boy with Red Waistcoat, 1890; Still Life with Ginger Jar, Pumpkin and Aubergines, 1894; Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1900 (page 122).
FUN FACT
Although Paul Cézanne and Émile Zola were close friends from childhood, Cézanne ended the friendship after Zola wrote a novel titled L’œuvre (The Masterpiece), the story of a misunderstood, failed artist who eventually commits suicide. Cézanne believed the story was about him.