Paul Cézanne: Biography, Artistic Career, and the Artist's Masterpieces

Paul Cézanne (born January 19, 1839 – died October 22, 1906) was a French artist of the 19th century who became the founder and central figure of Post-Impressionism. Cézanne's paintings were only recognized in the last years of the master's life because they were ahead of their time by half a century. The artist's system of combining line, color, and brushstroke was marked by incredible logic and subsequently inspired generations of artists. Paul Cézanne created his best works in the second half of the 19th century and had a significant influence on the development of avant-garde painting in the early 20th century.

Paul Cézanne. Self-portrait, 1875

Biography of Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne was born on the night of January 19, 1839, in a house on Opera Street in the small town of Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. His parents were not married at the time of his birth and only married five years later when the family already had two children. His father, Louis-Auguste, came from a family of skilled tradespeople but had the courage to leave a profitable hat business to establish a banking business, which eventually earned him a significant fortune.

Paul Cézanne. Portrait of Louis Cézanne reading, 1866

Paul Cézanne began drawing at the age of five, much to the delight of his future artist mother. After completing primary school, in 1852, the boy entered the Bourbon College as a full-boarder. Paul's painting talents were considered mediocre by his teachers, but he was awarded for his skill in composing poems. After completing his education, Cézanne attended the free painting school of Joseph Gibert for several years before obtaining his father's permission to move to Paris.

Cézanne moved to the capital in 1861 and began preparing for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts. Academician Gibert taught Paul the basics of painting, but the young artist's works were frankly weak. Lessons at the private school of Charles Suisse couldn't improve his situation, and the academy of the former model was more of a club where aspiring Parisian painters gathered. It was there that Cézanne met Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, and in 1863, he presented two of his works at the "Salon des Refusés."

Paul Cézanne. Judgement of Paris, 1862-1864

At the exhibition, the artist saw Édouard Manet's famous "Luncheon on the Grass" and was thrilled with the painting. His admiration for the new art led him to the circle of Impressionists led by Frédéric Bazille, but due to his natural shyness, Cézanne preferred to keep to himself. He received words of approval and support only from his idol Manet, while the Salon repeatedly rejected the young master's paintings, and he failed to enter the Academy. Cézanne's works were so far ahead of society's notions of visual art that they were referred to as "sewer painting."

Paul Cézanne. The Temptation of St Anthony, 1867-1869

In 1875, a significant event occurred in Cézanne's life – he met the collector Victor Choke, who became a regular buyer of his works. The artist regularly participated in Impressionist exhibitions but heard nothing but ridicule. Ignoring the criticism and confident in his genius, Cézanne continued to work productively and created his best works in the following decades.

Paul Cézanne. The Apple Basket, 1890-1894

True fame came with a solo exhibition organized by art dealer Ambroise Vollard in 1895. His paintings sold like hotcakes, and both critics and ordinary spectators praised the master's work. The first exhibition was immediately followed by a second one, and by 1900, the elderly artist transformed from an object of ridicule into a living legend and a messenger of a new art movement. Everyone wanted to meet Cézanne, and the master, unaccustomed to such attention, could not believe the sincerity of the words of admiration directed at him.

Paul Cézanne. Self-portrait with a palette, 1890

The youth elevated Cézanne to the rank of their spiritual mentor and recorded every word he said when they met. At the Salon exhibition in 1904, a whole hall was dedicated to the master's works. Two years later, while persistently working en plein air, Cézanne contracted bronchitis. This cold eventually turned into pneumonia, which claimed the artist's life. On October 23, 1906, Paul Cézanne passed away at the age of 67.

Paul Cézanne's Most Famous Paintings

Among Paul Cézanne's paintings, there are works of all genres, but they are united by the artist's ability to convey his own internal dynamism and strong emotions, which were well appreciated by the few viewers who could truly recognize the value of his early works. The master worked diligently throughout his life and left over eight hundred paintings for future generations.

Some of the most famous ones include:

• "The House of the Hanged Man" (1873) — a vivid example of the complex combination of different planes, where the viewer's gaze from the lower left corner of the painting extends into the deep space beyond the buildings.
• "Mountains in Provence" (1878-1880) — the artist deconstructs the mountain landscape into its components and then constructs his own reality from it, a technique later adopted by the Constructivists.
• "The Boy in the Red Vest" (1888-1890) — the master uses the color red as a formative element, and the abundance of black gives the portrait a tragic resonance.
• "Still Life with Skulls" (1898-1900) — reflects Cézanne's thoughts on the transience of existence in his later years.
• " The Great Bathers" (1906) — a flat and highly decorative work painted from photographs; the artist considered it the main masterpiece of his life.

Paul Cézanne. The Hanged Man's House, 1873

Paul Cézanne. Nearby Zola dam, 1878-1880

Paul Cézanne. The Boy in the Red Vest, 1888-1890

Paul Cézanne. Still life with skulls, 1898-1900

The painter sincerely regretted being born too early and expressed a spiritual kinship with artists of the following generations. The master's work gained many followers, and his style even received its own name—Cézannism.

Paul Cézanne. The Great Bathers, 1906

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