(1839-1906)

"The Sage"

Paul Cezanne was an artist who influenced the early part of the modern art era. His work and his life, have become a symbol of inspiration for the average painter. Cezanne is considered to be one of this centuries greatest art masters. He influenced some of the 20th centuries-greatest artists, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Paul Cezanne was born on January 19, 1839, in the Aix-en-Province, located in the South of France. Cezanne was born into an upper middle class family. His father was a local banker; and before this a local import and exporter in the Aix area. Their rich lifestyle made them unpopular with the local community, who thought them shrewd and stingy. For a brief time, Cezanne was convinced by his father to pursue a career in law, but by 1959, Cezanne had decided against pursuing a career in either of his fathers interests. Instead, his life would be art.

As a young child, Paul Cezanne spent much of his childhood growing up in the quite and isolated town of Aix. Here in this small rural town, Cezanne enjoyed spending afternoons with his friends swimming, playing, and getting into mischief. He had one extremely affectionate friend whom he was to know throughout life, Emile Zola. For a lifetime, these two friends would experience a friendship that would become intimate and moving, as well as rival and bitter. For the early parts of their careers, each friend often had to encourage one another because they often experienced moments of depression and self-doubt.

The success of Paul Cezanne is stranger from most other artists. He was not necessarily widely appreciated by the public, or even well known by the public. From the period between 1860 and 1886, Cezanne remained an isolated artist, not painting in the heart of Paris, but in the fairways of Southern France. He was however, an influential and popular figure. For many artists, Cezanne had a unique and likable style in painting. Cezanne remained for some time, a well hidden artist before he himself became known for his truest talents by the entire world.

By 1886 however, Cezanne seemed to have gained some credible recognition. He had by this time, participated in over three exhibitions, including some showings with the Impressionists. The year of 1886 was filled with both good and bad fortune for Cezanne. He married Hortense Fiquet on April 28, and later that year his father died at the age of 86, and his life long friend Zola, published an article that deeply offended Cezanne. Any consolation from these unfortunate occurrences, however, Cezanne did inherit a sizable fortune with the death of his father. For the next several years, Cezanne spent most of his time in Paris or in Aix, and also associating himself with other painters such as Claude Monet. He also enjoyed much success during these years, and other lesser-known artists began to appreciate Cezanne’s style.

Paul Cezanne was a middle-sized man with a balding hairline and a good-sized beard. He is described as a man of generosity and tenderness, and also as a man capable of unleashing an ugly nature. Memories and kind gestures always easily moved Cezanne to tears, but Cezanne never felt truly comfortable about his life or his art. He often stated that "life is fearful", and that his life had been full of the threat of this reality. He felt however that he had responded weakly, and that his achievements both financially and socially were invariably the work of others on his behalf.

Cezanne even had his concerns about death, and eternal damnation. He proclaimed to a friend that he often felt his time here on earth was limited and that he did not want to risk spending the afterlife "roasting in eternum". So Cezanne felt he did his moral duty by attending mass at a local Catholic church. He enjoyed mocking the priest, the organ players, and the entire "Middle Ages" atmosphere, as he referred to it. But Cezanne did eventually learn to appreciate his religion, after he had no one else to turn to for emotional support. For the most part, Cezanne is described as a man who wanted nothing more than to paint and enjoy a life that would treat him fairly.

In the later years of his life, Cezanne tried to keep himself busy by painting and trying to avoid the busyness of Paris. He would rise early in the morning to go paint in his studio, and spend most of his afternoons receiving inspiration from the local towns. He enjoyed going for long walks in the countryside, and entertaining guests over dinner.

During these last few years, Cezanne finally started to enjoy the life he always wanted, but these joyous times would not last. During 1906, Aix was hit with severe heat waves, and Cezanne found it extremely difficult to work under such conditions. Later that year, the weather seemed equally uncomfortable to Cezanne. One afternoon in late October, Cezanne was caught in the rain for over two hours. When he arrived home he collapsed from fatigue. A few days later on Oct. 22, 1906, Paul Cezanne died.