Artist Cezanne Paul: biography, works and self-portrait

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

What is the difference between just a talented artist and a genius? It happens that a person from childhood amazes everyone with his artistic abilities, and those around him prophesy a brilliant future, but, growing up, he becomes only one of many. And it happens the other way around: no one sees anything remarkable in a child or a young person, but after some time, everyone suddenly begins to notice what he does superbly and brilliantly. Cezanne Paul is one of those artists.

The artist's childhood

The biography of Paul Cezanne is interesting and unusual. However, how can the life of a brilliant artist be ordinary? And it all started at the end of 1839. It was then, on December 19, in the French town of Aix-en-Provence, a baby was born, who was given the name Paul. The father of the future artist - Louis Auguste - was a rich man. At first he traded in felt hats, and then he began to slowly lend money at interest and, quickly realizing the advantages of such a business, opened his own banking business in the city.

Paul Cezanne's mother was a saleswoman from a hat shop. It was modest anda poorly educated woman, but she loved her son to the point of madness and protected her from the harsh temper of her father as best she could. The only image of her has survived in the painting "Girl at the Piano", in which Paul's mother is sitting in the background with needlework in her hands.

The character of Cezanne Sr. was really "not sugar". He was not loved in the city, as he was known as a cruel and very stingy person. Cezanne Paul also disliked his father and was afraid of him. For many years he suffered greatly from his dependent position in his parental home. But it must be admitted that, despite the strictness and harsh disposition, the father took good care of the boy's education and sent his son to study at the most prestigious school in the city - Bourbon College.

School years and character building

Paul Cezanne was a capable and diligent student. He excelled in mathematics and was very fond of writing essays. Poetry was a special passion of the future artist. Cezanne Paul memorized almost all of Virgil and Homer. He had an excellent memory, and even after many years he could freely quote these poets by heart.

It is surprising that the boy did not like school drawing lessons, but was afraid of them, although he felt a strong craving for art. At that time, no one, including Paul himself, could even think that a real artist would ever come out of him. At school, his academic success was repeatedly noted with commendable letters. The father hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps andwill continue the family business. He forced Paul to enter the law school at the local university after graduation.

Uneasy family relationships and internal contradictions did not have the best influence on the formation of the character of the young Cezanne. He grew up closed and unsociable, and so he remained for the rest of his life. People have always irritated the artist, he avoided light and fuss all his life and found joy and consolation only in painting.

Friendship with Emile Zola

Paul Cezanne's only friend for many years was Emile Zola. They met in elementary school, as they studied together. The children were brought together by one unpleasant incident: little Zola was constantly teased at school because he lisped a lot, once classmates beat him, and Paul stood up for a classmate. This marked the beginning of their 40 year friendship.

Cezanne Paul really appreciated this relationship, as it was difficult to get along with people and, apart from Zola, he had no friends. Surprisingly, Emile Zola was very fond of drawing at school and excelled in this discipline so much that he was predicted to become an artist. But Cezanne, on the contrary, was most successful in literary work, and those around him thought that he would be a writer. But everything turned out the other way around.

After leaving school, Emil goes to Paris and insistently invites Paul to come with him. But the young man does not dare to disobey his despotic father and remains in his hometown. But the friendship continued for a long time, until Emile Zola wrote a work called "Creativity", in the main character of which is a loser andsuicide - Cezanne recognized himself.

Painting lessons

So the school years are over! Young Cezanne, at the insistence of his father, studies at the university, but at the same time he begins to attend painting lessons at a local studio school and even equips his own art workshop on his father's estate. Art fascinates him more and more. He strives with all his might to Paris, and finally his father, succumbing to persistent requests and persuasion, lets him go to the capital.

Now Cezanne gets the opportunity to study the art of drawing and painting at the famous academy of Suissa. Paul often visits the Louvre, where he diligently copies paintings by great artists: Rubens, Delacroix, Titian. The first independent works of Paul Cezanne are gloomy and romantic, imbued with the influence of the work of these painters. On the other hand, in the early paintings of Cezanne, his strong emotional experiences of that period were displayed.

First steps in art

The young artist has a hard time in the capital, society does not accept him, considering this provincial too gloomy and uncouth. He goes back to his father, tries to work in his office, but then returns to Paris again, because he feels that he can no longer live without painting. This period of tossing lasted for ten years and was accompanied by severe depression.

The first paintings that the artist exhibited in the Parisian salons did not bring him any success. The public and critics did not accept his "strange", unusual view ofthis world. At this time, the only person who supported him was Emile Zola. Cezanne worked terribly hard, trying to comprehend the secrets of the craft, but success was yet to come.

Meet Camille Pissarro

As the years passed, Paul Cezanne - an artist and a man - passes the first storm of passions, becomes calmer and more balanced. A significant event takes place in his life - an acquaintance with the famous impressionist Camille Pissarro. This artist gives Cezanne advice to make his palette lighter, teaches him the technique of a separate stroke. This period of Cezanne's work is from 1872 to 1879. - can be called impressionistic.

The main genre of this time was the landscape. Cezanne Paul and Pissarro often work together on the same motives, although they use different means. Despite the strong influence of impressionism and Pissarro on his work, Cezanne never became a full adherent of this direction in painting.

The aspirations of the Impressionists to show the momentary state of the world around him, its variability and unsteadiness, were alien to him. He rather perceived the environment as something unshakable, subject to strict harmony. The geometry of space will never cease to play an important role for him.

Artist's personal life

Paul Cezanne's biography would be incomplete without a short story about his personal life. As already mentioned, Cezanne had few affections, he was a misanthrope, avoided people, new acquaintances and women. And yet, in 1869, he met a girl to whomtruly attached. Her name was Marie-Hortensia Fike, she worked as a model and was 11 years younger than the artist. Cezanne married a girl and subsequently she served as his model for more than forty paintings. In 1872, Hortense gave birth to Paul's son. And although the spouses were quite different people in their habits and perception of the world and for the most part lived separately (Cezanne - in his estate in Provence, and Hortense - in Paris), nevertheless, this woman remained the only one in the life of the maestro.

Paintings by Cezanne

Paul Cezanne, whose work left a deep mark on the hearts of his contemporaries, was a real hermit and workaholic. He left behind over 800 oil paintings. And this is not counting the many drawings and works made in watercolor, which Paul Cezanne was especially fond of in the last creative period.

Here are the names of some of his most famous paintings: "Bridge in the Forest" (1880), "Houses in Provence near Estac" (1882), "Sea in Estac" (1885), "Portrait Madame Cezanne" (1887), "View of Gardanna" (1886), "Mountain of St. Victoria" (1890). All these and many other landscapes were painted by the great Paul Cezanne. Still lifes occupy a special place in his work. Once in his school years, having received a basket of apples from Emile Zola as a gift, he uttered the phrase: "I will conquer Paris with apples." This exclamation of the child became prophetic. Many years later, his numerous magnificent still lifes with apples really conquered the capital. France.

Maestro worked in different genres. Along with landscapes and still lifes, he has many self-portraits, portraits and genre paintings, mostly in oils.

Last years of life

In the last years of his life, the artist was ill with diabetes, but still worked hard and fruitfully. Only at the end of his creative and life path came success to Cezanne, which he, however, was not looking for. The painter was a real recluse, contemptuously treated worldly fuss and lived, idolizing only holy art.

Many art historians believe that the work of this master of painting, his artistic discoveries and his personality were so grandiose and large-scale that all this together had a huge impact on many subsequent generations of painters. Paul Cezanne, whose brief biography is set out in this article, died at the age of 67, in October 1906. Now his paintings are worth millions of dollars, and their value is growing rapidly every year. In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about where you can see his work.

Paul Cezanne's works in Russia

In different museums of our country there are many works of the French post-impressionist. In St. Petersburg, in the Hermitage, you can see his still lifes Fruit, Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase, Still Life with Drapery, landscapes Big Pine near Aix, Blue Landscape, Mount St. Victoria. There you can also see what Paul Cezanne looked like - "Self-portrait in a cap", painted by the artist between 1873-1875,is also in the Hermitage. In Moscow, in the Pushkin Museum, paintings "Pierrot and Harlequin", "Bridge on the Marne in Kreitel", "Road in Pontoise", etc. are exhibited in the permanent exhibition.