“With an apple I will astonish Paris.”
-Paul Cezanne
Paul Cezanne was born to a wealthy family on January 19th, 1839 in the South of France. His father was a banker and did not want his son to become an artist. So, Paul Cezanne began his studies in law, and as a compromise his father allowed him to take art lessons.
His work developed a deliberately crude, bold style, slapping and smearing paint onto canvas with a palette knife. He is described as a Post-impressionist best known for his incredibly varied painting style which greatly affected 20th century abstract art. Both Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso were highly influenced by Cezanne.
Although he was a prolific artist, producing more than 900 oil paintings and 400 water colours and many more incomplete works, his pictures were turned down by official art shows (the Salon) and critics called him a madman. He would sometimes get so angry in fits of despair we would break his brushes and throw his pictures away. He was also said to be so incredibly shy that he would run away if he saw a stranger while out sketching.
His work did not become popular until people’s ideas about art changed. After a one-man show in 1895 he won huge acclaim.
Paul Cezanne died of pneumonia on October 22, 1906. He was 67 years old.
The artists in our classes created their own still life works of art using chalk pastels, and 8 different colours of acrylic paint!