Basic Information about Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne was a French artist and Post-Impressionist painter (Post-Impressionism is a French art movement in early modernism which is also known as Synthetism).

Cézannewas born on January 19, 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, Southern part of France. He lived in a small town in West Piedmont which is known as Cesana and died on October 22, 1906 at the age of 67 years old due to pneumonia.

Paul Cézanne lived in abundance and financially secured because of his huge inheritance from his father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne (born on 28 July 1798 – died on 23 October 1869). Louis-Auguste was the co-founder of a banking firm which brought finance prosperity to his family. His mother is Anne Elisabeth Honorine Aubert (born on September 24, 1814 – died on October 25, 1897), who influenced Paul in his vision of life. He has also two younger sisters in the name of Marie and Rose. Marie-Hortense Fiquet was his mistress wherein later he married and had a son Paul Junior.

Paul Cézanne went to Saint Joseph school at the age of 10 wherein he studied drawing. He also entered Collège Bourbon (currently known as Collège Mignet) in the year 1852. This was the time when the three inseparables "les trois inséparables" composed of Emile Zola, Baptistin Baille and Paul Cézanne. He studied at the law school of the University of Aix, while also receiving drawing lessons in 1859 0 1861 in compliance with his father’s wish. But in 1961 he pursued his artistic development in Paris despite of his father’s objection.

Cézannegreat influence and inspiration in his chosen field of artistry are: Eugène Delacroix, Edouard Manet, Camille Pissarro, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Bohumír Dvorský.

Paul Cézanne's masterpieces revealed unique mastery of design, color, tone, composition and draftsmanship. His works were characterized and known for the probing brushstrokes which sensitive and repetitive in nature.

Here are some of Paul Cézanne's masterpieces:

A. Paintings

• The Black Marble Clock (1869–1871)
• A Modern Olympia (1873–1874) now at Musee d'Orsay, Paris
• Mont Sainte-Victoire (1882–1885) now at Metropolitan Museum of Art
• L'Estaque (1883–1885)
• The Bay of Marseilles, view from L'Estaque (1885) now at Mont Sainte-Victoire (1885–1887)
  Courtauld Institute Galleries, London
• Jas de Bouffan (1885–1887) now at Minneapolis Institute of Art
• Bather (1885–1887) now at Museum of Modern Art
• Fatnacht (Mardi Gras) – 1888 now at Pushkin Museum, Moscow
• Boy in a Red Waistcoat (1888–1890) now at National Gallery of Art
• Madame Cezanne in the Greenhouse (1891–1892) now at Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The House with Burst Walls (1892–1894) now at Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Maison Maria on the way to the Château Noir-1895 now at Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
• Road Before the Mountains, Sainte-Victoire (1898–1902) now at Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg
• Château Noir (1900–1904) now at National Gallery of Art
• The Bathers (1898–1905) now at National Gallery, London
• Femme au Chapeau Vert Woman in a Green Hat. Madame Cézanne 1894–1895
• Les joueurs de carte (1892-95)
• Pyramid of Skulls, 1901
• The Overture to Tannhäuser The Artist's Mother and Sister, 1868

• Les Grandes Baigneuses, 1898–1905

• Jas de Bouffan, 1876

B. Still life paintings

• Still Life with an Open Drawer (1877–1879)
• The Basket of Apples (1890–1894) now at Art Institute of Chicago
• Still Life, Drapery, Pitcher, and Fruit Bowl (1893–1894) now at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City
• Still Life with Cherub – 1895 now at Courtauld Institute Galleries, London

C. Watercolors

• Boy with Red Vest - 1890
• Self-portrait - 1895
• Mill at the River (1900–1906)
• River with the Bridge of the Three Sources – 1906 now at Cincinnati Art Museum
• Still Life with a Curtain (1895)

D. Portraits and self-portraits

• Portrait of Uncle Dominique (1865–1867)
  Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Portrait of the Artist's Father Louis-Auguste Cézanne, Reading – 1866 now at National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• Portrait of Achille Emperaire – 1868 now at Musée d'Orsay
• Paul Alexis reading to Emile Zola (1869–1870) now at São Paulo Museum of Art
• Self-portrait – 1875 now at Musée d'Orsay
• Portrait of Victor Chocquet (1876–1877)
• Self-portrait (1879–1882) now at Kunstmuseum, Bern
• Madame Cézanne Oil on canvas – 1886 now at The Detroit Institute of Arts
• Portrait of Paul Cezanne's Son – Pastel (1888–1890) now at The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
• Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress (1890–1894) now at São Paulo Museum of Art
• Portrait of Gustave Geffroy – 1895 now at Musée d'Orsay
• Self-portrait with Beret (1898–1900) now at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston