Cezanne

The new digital and immersive exhibition in the Carrières des Lumières will present Cezanne’s most significant works, such as his still lifes of apples, The Card Players (1890–95), and The Great Bathers (circa 1906).

A self-taught painter who produced 900 canvases and 400 watercolours, Cezanne (1839–1906) painted portraits, still lifes, landscapes, and historical scenes … and created many versions of a single theme, as he endlessly experimented with the possibilities of pictorial representation. Initially rejected at the Salon and later recognised by his contemporaries, at a retrospective held in 1895 by Ambroise Vollard, Cezanne is now considered the pioneer of modernism.

Strongly influenced by Delacroix and Courbet at the beginning of his career, he subsequently abandoned studio work and shifted towards Impressionism, following Pissarro’s example and painting in the open air. His unique construction of form and use of colour, and his tendency towards abstraction led him to go beyond Impressionism, and he even influenced the cubists, the Fauves, and the avant-garde painters.

His paintings are also deeply and completely sincere, conveying the artist’s uncertainty and passion. Visitors will view representations that reflect the artist’s personal life: the self-portraits that capture his inner torment, the sobriety that resulted from the slow pace of daily life in Aix-en-Provence, and the intimacy of his studio.

The energetic brushstrokes, the use of paint and its evolution, the continuing presence of nature, the suspension of time, the development towards an abstract reality of forms and colours … Cezanne’s oeuvre attests to this multifaceted pictorial style. Following the theme of nature, Provence, and the Mont Sainte-Victoire, ‘Cezanne, the Master of Provence’ takes visitors on a journey into the heart of the artist’s major works.

Listen to the playlist of the exhibition