In 1861, two years after matriculating, he abandoned the course and moved to Paris. For a brief period, he studied at the Atelier Suisse with Camille Pissarro, and in the capital, he became close friends with Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. His paintings were rejected by the official Paris Salon, so he, like many of his contemporaries, participated in the 1863 Salon des Refusés.
Although he never fully aligned with Impressionism, Cezanne did show paintings at the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. In the canvases of these years, he built up luminous colour and began to paint en plein air, as seen in Bathers (1874–75), which combines the radiance of natural light with figures drawn from his imagination. It was during this decade that Cezanne began to probe the relationship between colour and form. This would come to be the central question of his oeuvre.
Following the onset of the Franco-Prussian War, Cezanne left Paris for the south. He began to paint landscapes in and around Aix and of l’Estaque, near Marseille. It was here that Cezanne developed his analytical approach to painting, in which he sought to show depth through colour and geometry. ‘Everything in nature,’ he observed, ‘is modelled after the sphere, the cone, and the cylinder. One must learn to paint from these simple figures.’ While his studies of Mont Sainte-Victoire demonstrate his dedication to geometric representation, Cezanne experimented in his studio as well as in works such as Apples (1878–79) and Le panier de pommes (c.1893), among others.
By the start of the 20th century, Cezanne was exhibiting widely and internationally, an important figure to legions of artists including Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marcel Duchamp. Cezanne would live in the south of France until his death in 1906.
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Melun vu depuis Le Mée-sur-Seine
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Bouilloire et fruits
PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
L'Estaque aux toits rouges
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Fruits et pot de gingembre
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Nature morte avec pot au lait, melon et sucrier
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Nature morte de pêches et poires
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
L'homme à la pipe (Étude pour un joueur de cartes) ( recto ); Père Alexandre ( verso )
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Vue sur L'Estaque et le Château d'If
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Joueur de cartes
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Portrait de Vallier
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Quatre pommes et un couteau
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Pommes sur un linge
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
La côte Saint-Denis à Pontoise
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
L'Aqueduc du canal de Verdon au nord d'Aix
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Le pont et le barrage à Pontoise
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Théière et oranges (La Nappe)
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Poires dans une assiette blanche
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Route tournante ( recto ); La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des lauves ( verso )
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Dans la carrière de Bibémus
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Poires et couteau
PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
Quatre pommes
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Marronniers et ferme du Jas de Bouffan
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Village derrière les arbres, Ile de France
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Maisons au Chou, à Pontoise
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Village derrière des arbres, Île-de-France
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
La mer à l'Estaque
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Etude de baigneuses
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
La Conversation
PAUL CÉZANNE (1839-1906)
La Montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
La montagne Sainte-Victoire vue des Lauves (recto); Etude d'arbres (verso)
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Oranges et verre ( recto ) ; Le fils de Cézanne ( verso )
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Le village des pêcheurs à l'Estaque
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Vue d’Auvers-sur-Oise—La Barrière
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Baigneuses devant une montagne ( recto ); Etude de maison ( verso )
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
La conversation
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Deux poires
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
L'amour en plâtre
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Portrait
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Baigneurs
PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906)
Le vase bleu sombre
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Puits et route tournante dans le parc de Château Noir
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Route tournante
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Forêt ( recto ); Arbres et buissons ( verso )
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Arbres se croisant au bord de l'eau, II
Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)
Don Quichotte, vu de dos
Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)
Tête de femme (Portrait présumé de Madame Zola)