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Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan
Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan
Around 1883
Oil paint on canvas
The Jas de Bouffan was a rural estate just outside of Aix-en-Provence owned by Paul Cézanne's father. The artist painted many views of the house, grounds and farmworkers from 1866 until 1899, when the estate was sold.
This painting was executed with short, parallel brushstrokes, a technique Cézanne favoured in the 1880s. It creates a shimmering effect particularly well suited to this scene. The leaves of the tall trees seem to rustle in the breeze.
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Pot of Flowers and Fruit
Pot of Flowers and Fruit
Around 1888-90
Oil paint on canvas
The commonplace objects in this deceptively simple still life allow Paul Cézanne to set himself a compositional challenge. He contrasts the roundness of the fruits, which appear almost sculptural, with the flat leaves of the plant.
He also rejects conventional perspective. The background, perhaps the reverse of a stretched canvas, closes off our view and creates further spatial ambiguity. We are compelled to read the image less as a still life and more as a lively play of shapes and colours.
Paul Cézanne(1839-1906)
Man with a Pipe
Man with a Pipe
Around 1892-96
Oil paint on canvas
In this portrait, Paul Cézanne seems to have carefully considered every brushstroke in order to convey the sitter's features and character. The man, a farmworker from the artist's family estate, is portrayed as a stoical figure, his weathered face suggesting a working life spent outdoors.
Cézanne made a number of paintings of rural workers at this time. He wrote: 'I love above all the appearance of people who have grown old without breaking with old customs'.
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
The Card Players
The Card Players
Around 1892-96
Oil paint on canvas
Paul Cézanne spent several years drawing and painting farmworkers from the rural estate where he lived near Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France. This is one of five paintings depicting some of these men playing cards The figure on the right is a gardener called Paulin Paulet. The other player remains unidentified; Cézanne also made a portrait of him, on display nearby.
Cézanne's figures are elongated, somewhat out of proportion, and his brushwork is lively and varied. However, the overall feeling in the painting is one of stillness and concentration, with the men completely absorbed in their game. Before Cézanne, artists and illustrators often represented card playing as a rowdy activity in taverns with wine and beer flowing. This painting offers a different vision: Cézanne's labourers are monumental and dignified, like timeworn statues.
Paul Cézanne(1839-1906)
Lac d'Annecy (Lake Annecy)
Lac d'Annecy (Lake Annecy)
1896
Oil paint on canvas
In 1896, Paul Cézanne went on holiday with his wife and son to the French Alps. This view of a mountain lake near the Swiss border was the only painting he made during the trip. He struggled with what he considered an overly charming setting, which contrasted with the rugged landscape of his native Provence. However, it resulted in one of his most daring paintings. Cézanne explored his surroundings in terms of form and colour. He turned the distant castle into a strict geometric shape and rendered the light and shadow on the mountain slopes with contrasting blocks of colour.
Paul Cézanne(1839-1906)
Still Life with Plaster Cupid
Still Life with Plaster Cupid
Around 1894
Oil paint on paper, pasted on board
This work depicts a still life set up in Paul Cézanne's studio, including a plaster cast of a small 17th-century sculpture surrounded by fruit and vegetables. A few canvases are propped up against the wall. Cézanne used this seemingly simple arrangement to create one of his most complex and disorientating paintings.
The spatial arrangement of the studio is difficult to grasp and the impression of depth is unsettling. The green apple in the far corner seems too large and the floor itself appears tilted. The blue drapery in the painting propped against the wall on the left blends with the hem of the fabric on the table. The position of the sprouting onion blurs the distinction between the 'real' fruits and vegetables on the table and the ones depicted in the canvas.
This work challenged the traditional view that still life was a limited and unadventurous genre. Rather than creating straightforward representations, Cézanne used still life to liberate himself from conventional ways of seeing.
Paul Cézanne(1839-1906)
Montage Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine
Montage Sainte-Victoire with Large Pine
Around 1887
Oil paint on canvas
The mountain Sainte-Victoire, with its jagged top, dominates the countryside around Paul Cézanne's hometown of Aix-en-Provence in southern France. For him, it embodied the rugged landscape and people of Provence. Cézanne painted the mountain from different vantage points throughout his career. This painting is the most monumental. Areas of green and yellow lead the eye to the towering Sainte-Victoire, painted in cool blues and pinks.
The sweeping pine branches in the foreground follow the contours of the mountain. This was one of Cézanne's favourite framing devices and is also found in Lac d'Annecy, hanging nearby.
The timeless quality of the setting is interrupted only by the modern railway viaduct on the right and the trail of steam left by a passing train.
Samuel Courtauld recalled feeling 'the magic' when he first saw one of Cézanne's paintings in 1922. His passion for the artist means that The Courtauld has the largest group of works by Cézanne in the United Kingdom.
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