The Artist's Father
Image courtesy of
The National Gallery of Art, U.S.A
Education:
Formally studied art in Paris; received tutelage from Camille Pissaro
Life/Lifestyle:
Born to a rich banker in Aix-en-Provence, Cézanne was the awkward, shy man who became the "father of modern art." He followed the artistic interests of his childhood friend, Emile Zola, a novelist and major supporter of impressionism, and with financial support from his father, began studying art in Paris at the age of 23. The earlier part of his career contained a lot of failure for he was drawn to the avante garde of the time, which was highly criticized. Cézanne eventually found himself in the Café Guerbois, the social venue for the close group of artists including Manet, Degas, and Pissarro. Camille Pissarro, a key member of the impressionist group, introduced much of the impressionist styles that Cézanne adopted. Pissarro introduced to him the idea of painting "en plein aire" or working outdoors, painting rapidly what was seen, and using pure color straight out of the tube. Cézanne exhibited with the impressionists in their highly criticized first show, and it was then that he abandoned impressionism and drifted away from the Paris group, eventually alienating himself from artists including Pissarro. In 1886, he broke off ties with Emile Zola over possible references to his failures in Zola's writing, and in the same year, he inherited his father's fortune.
Cézanne was quite an esoteric artist until an art dealer by the name of Ambroise Vollard arranged a show of his work, which turned out to be a success. The success of his work continued to grow until his death in 1906.
Style/Significance:
Cézanne's style is the beginning of the era of modern art. He is very concerned with structure, among other things, and emphasizes it through layering of square brushstrokes. Like the impressionists, he used color as a tool in his art. Block of pure color is layered on next to another, giving the image a defined structure, which impressionists had abandoned. Cézanne called this "modulating" which is the use of expression in color that is used in lieu of the darks and lights that an artist would use if he were "modeling" from nature. As a result, he flattened the images and simplified the forms, creating something more expressive than real.
Cézanne's work included a variety of subjects, of which the best known are still-life's and paintings of Mont Ste-Victoire. However, Cézanne's styles was applied to several portraits and paintings of people. Many of his figure paintings were of the female nude in an outdoor background. He did a series of bathers, much like that of Renoir's later work. The portraits that he painted were under meticulous observation, but in the end the image still has a certain level of distortion.
Famous Pieces:
Mont Ste-Victoire
Self Portrait
Portrait of the Artist's Father
