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Paul Cézanne

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Paul Cézanne was a famous French painter who changed how we see art.

Paul Cézanne 130
Paul Cézanne 130

He was part of a group called the Post-Impressionists. His work acted like a bridge between two different styles. One style was Impressionism, which focused on light and color. The other style was Cubism, which used shapes to show objects. Cézanne wanted to show the true structure of things. He did not just paint what he saw on the surface. He looked for the shapes underneath every object. This helped him create a new way of painting.

Paul Cezanne, A Modern Olympia, c. 1873-1874
Paul Cezanne, A Modern Olympia, c. 1873-1874

Cézanne had a very special way of using his brush. He used many small, repetitive brushstrokes to build his pictures. Instead of smooth colors, he used planes of color. These small strokes worked together to create complex fields of color. This technique helped him show how light and color work together. He also studied how objects look from different views. He broke the old rules of academic art to do this. He focused on the formal qualities of his art. This meant he cared deeply about how the painting was built.

Le pain et les œufs, par Paul Cézanne
Le pain et les œufs, par Paul Cézanne

Paul was born on January 19, 1839, in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Overture
Overture

His father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne, was a successful banker. His mother was Anne-Elisabeth-Honorine Aubert. Paul had two younger sisters named Marie and Rose. He grew up in a family with money. This helped him study art without worrying about costs. He even went to a law school for two years. However, he preferred drawing and writing poems instead. He eventually chose to be an artist full-time.

Cézanne's life in the art world was not always easy. At first, many critics did not understand his work. They even made fun of his strange style. He tried to show his art at the official Salon in Paris many times. But the Salon rejected him from 1864 until 1869. He finally got into the Salon once in 1882. This happened because a friend helped him. His friend Antoine Guillemet showed a painting of Paul's father. Even then, the painting was hidden in a dark corner.

Paul Cézanne - Paul Alexis Lê um Manuscrito a Zola
Paul Cézanne - Paul Alexis Lê um Manuscrito a Zola

Many important artists eventually realized how great Cézanne was. His friend Camille Pissarro was one of the first to support him. An art dealer named Ambroise Vollard also helped people see his talent.

Cezanne Ambroise Vollard
Cezanne Ambroise Vollard

In 1895, Vollard held a big show for Cézanne in Paris. This helped many people finally understand his vision. Famous painters like Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso admired him greatly. They even called him "the father of us all." Today, we see his influence in much of the modern art we know.

Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, by Paul Cézanne
Mont Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine, by Paul Cézanne
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🖼️ Images & Media (34)
File:Overture.jpg
Overture.jpg
File:Cézanne, Le Printemps.jpg
Cézanne, Le Printemps.jpg
File:Paul Cézanne - Paul Alexis Lê um Manuscrito a Zola.jpg
Paul Cézanne - Paul Alexis Lê um...
File:Paul Cézanne - Achille Emperaire - Google Art Project.jpg
Paul Cézanne - Achille Emperaire - Google...
File:Paul Cézanne 130.jpg
Paul Cézanne 130.jpg
File:Le pain et les œufs, par Paul Cézanne.jpg
Le pain et les œufs, par Paul Cézanne.jpg
File:Paul Cezanne, A Modern Olympia, c. 1873-1874.jpg
Paul Cezanne, A Modern Olympia, c. 1873-1874.jpg
File:La Maison du pendu, Auvers-sur-Oise, par Paul Cézanne, FWN 81.jpg
La Maison du pendu, Auvers-sur-Oise, par...
File:Paul Cézanne 137.jpg
Paul Cézanne 137.jpg
File:Paul Cézanne, 1888-90, Madame Cézanne (Hortense Fiquet, 1850–1922) in a Red Dress, oil on canvas, 116.5 x 89.5 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.jpg
Paul Cézanne, 1888-90, Madame Cézanne...
File:Paul Cézanne - Le moulin sur la Couleuvre à Pontoise - Google Art Project.jpg
Paul Cézanne - Le moulin sur la Couleuvre...
File:Cezanne Ambroise Vollard.jpg
Cezanne Ambroise Vollard.jpg

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