FREE ESSAY ON CEZANNE

CEZANNE

Candy Elliott-Ries
Art 101 ET
Mr. Tim Hahn
Final Paper
Paul Cezanne
Cezanne was born at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on January 19, 1839. Cezanne
developed artistic interests at an early age. His father was a common laborer then became
a hatter and, eventually, a successful wealthy banker. He had high expectations for Paul
and would never fully accept the notion of his son becoming an artist. Sadly, his father
died before realizing the extraordinary accomplishments his son had achieved. He went to
school in Aix, forming a close childhood friendship with the future novelist Emile Zola.
From 1852 to 1858, young Cezanne studied humanities at the College Bourbon in Aix.
Cezanne pursued his education, studying law in Aix from 1859 to 1861; however, his
interest and love for the arts would not subside and he continued attending drawing
classes. Although Cezanne knew he was going against his father's wishes, he would not be
detoured from his dream. Therefore, in 1861, he told his father that he was going to be
an artist; furthermore, he was going to join Zola in Paris. His father's never really
approved of his decision but eventually agreed to give him financial support. Later,
Cezanne received an inheritance which further allowed him to study and work in Paris
somewhat comfortably. 
Cezanne remained an outsider to the major artist circle of Paris. From 1864 to 1869, he
submitted his work to the official SALON, but the pieces were continually rejected. His
works were extremely personal in character, dealing with bizarre subjects of disturbance
and fantasy in austere, somber colors and profound intense compositions. The years from
1865 to 1870 are often regarded as Cezanne's early romantic period. He met Camille
Pissarro, with whom he painted outside Paris at Auvers, and through her became a part of
the impressionist group. Cezanne's life was one of isolation; he had few friends and
rarely exhibited his work. He married and had a son, but still was isolated. However, he
would participate in their exhibits in 1874 and again in 1877. In the early 1870s, he
assimilated the ideals of color and natural light of Impressionism and relaxed his
brushwork; yet he retained his own sense of mass and the interaction of space, as in
House of the Hanged Man. In the late 1870s, Cezanne entered the phase known as
``constructive.'' Cezanne was a contemporary of the impressionists. He knew had to lay on
canvas the true qualities of space, mass, and color that lay within himself. He ventured
beyond their interests in the individual brushstroke and the fall of light onto objects,
to create, in his words, ``something more solid and durable, like the art of the
museums.''
. Cezanne's also painted may Bather themes. He portrayed women, usually with their backs
towards the viewer, as pyramidal groups. Men were portrayed as almost pieces of
architecture. Women bathers are usually presented in large pyramidal groups, overlapping,
mostly with their backs to the viewer. His men generally face forward, almost in an
architectural essence. They did not appear overlapping as many of the women, but rather
as individuals in the same space. Later work showed Cezanne's interest and passion,
distinguished by the arrangement of corresponding, yet antagonistic brushstrokes in
formations that build up a sensation of mass and depth. This style was his main forte
until the early 1890s. His series of paintings titled Card Players (1890-92) introduced a
new perception-atmosphere. 
Finally, living as a solitary in Aix , Cezanne moved into his late phase. He would paint
still life paintings of everyday existences such as apples, statuary, and tablecloths.
Bathers were still a subject of his paintings. He looked out across the valley from his
studio and painted the famous Mont Sainte-Victoire. The landscapes of the final years,
much affected by Cezanne's contemporaneous practice in watercolor, have a more
transparent and unfinished look, while the last figure paintings are at once more somber
and spiritual in mood. By the time of his death on October 22, 1906, Cezanne's art had
began to be shown and seen across Europe, and it became a fundamental influence on the
Fauves, the Cubists, and virtually all advanced art of the early twentieth century. I
have perhaps come too early, an aging Paul Cezanne told a young artist. I was the painter
of your generation more than my own. It was not until 1895 that Cezanne, at age 56, was
bestowed a full-scale one-man show in Paris, eleven short years before his death. Cezanne
left future generations and ours with more than 950 oil paintings and nearly 650
watercolor works of art. Cezanne has personally related still life, landscapes and
portraits, many of which were self portraits that evolved from an unsure young man into
an almost sage. He is often referred to as the father of modern art.
I viewed Cezanne's artwork at the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park, Missouri. The
works were displayed on the main floor in the French Impressionist Gallery. I was amazed
at the impact of the picture Bathers (1890-91), which is an oil on canvas. The subjects
appeared in a group setting, yet somehow, each was an individual. Cezanne portrayal of
scene was obviously personal. The men, although in the company of others, are somewhat
isolated within themselves. Although Cezanne lived his entire life almost isolated within
his own world and somewhat of an outcast even in his own family, maybe he did long for
companionship. Interaction between the boldly brushed individuals cannot be imagined. I
try to imagine what has brought this group of men together. The light is too significant
to be the dawn of a new morning or the dusk of a fallen night. Then why, sense fraternity
and festivity are not the reasons, are these men bathing in the height of the day? Maybe
this is just the sort of mystery the picture was supposed to provoke.