The Life and Art of Paul Cezanne, a French Post-Impressionist Painter

Paul Cezanne was a French artist born January 19th 1839. Cezanne was considered a Post-Impressionist painter that also helped with the development of the Cubist style. He was born in Aix-en-Provence a small southern French town and was the son of a wealthy banker, Louis-Auguste Cezanne. His mother was Anne Elisabeth Honorine Aubert. He also had two little sisters, Marie and Rose. Paul started going to Saint Joseph school in Aix, when he was just ten. In 1857 Paul started studying drawing from a Spanish Monk named, Joseph Gibert, at the Free Municipal School of Drawing in Aix. His father wanted him to obtain a lucrative profession, so in 1858 he began attending the University of Aix, studying law; still taking art classes. After about a year studying law, Cezanne finally decided to tell his father he wanted to move to Paris to pursue a profession as an artist. His father was not pleased with his decision, but eventually agreed.

In 1861 Cezanne moved to Paris, but it only lasted about six months. He suffered from depression and decided to move home, wondering if he had chosen the wrong career. After a year of working with his father, he decided to give painting another try. The first six months back in Paris were very hard on the new artist. He had failed the entrance exam at Ecole des Beaux-Arts, which was the official painting school in Paris. At the same time his artwork was rejected at The Salon, the official art exhibition of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. While in Paris, he met Camille Pissarro an Impressionist painter. Pissarro was able to help the young developing artist. The more mature artist was able to mentored Cezanne and over the course of their friendship they started working on projects together, wo...

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...rovence. A year after his death in 1907 his paintings were displayed in Paris in a large museum-like retrospective. This viewing affected the direction of new and upcoming artist, which elevated him to his position as one of the most significant artists of the 19th century and to the creation of Cubism.

Paul Cezanne’s artwork can be found in various museums and galleries around the United States. The Artist Father, Reading “L’Evenment” (1866) is available to be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Two portraits, Uncle Dominique (1886) and Man with a Straw Hat (1870) are displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In California you can find his artwork at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, (Portrait of Antony Valabregue, 1866) and at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, (Farm and Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan, 1844).