9781422285343

CÉZANNE

5

(Mary Evans Picture Library)

 ABOVE:  Paul Cézanne in 1890.

Paul Cézanne was highly revered by not just his contemporaries, but also the 20 th - and 21 st -century artists that were to follow him. Perhaps this is because his paintings and great works were universal and easy to interpret, with monumental great landscapes, seascapes, portraits, railway subjects, and portraitures, or perhaps it is because he brought something fresh, exciting, and new. (His style and techniques were much copied by new upcoming artists at the turn of the century.) Described by Henri Matisse as: “the father of us all,” and also

known as “Father of Modernism,” Cézanne’s style and influences changed, from his early “darker” palettes to colorful and vibrant pieces. The paintings from the 1870s developed through Impressionism – still widely regarded as one of the greatest movements in the art world – to his later works into the 20 th century, with their foundations firmly and geometrically routed in Cubism. He lived and worked through a time when Impressionism was in its heyday, and he frequently used these techniques, but he is more often than not considered a Post-Impressionist.