Famous French Artists - Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne, known for his post-impressionist paintings, was a renowned French artist born in Aix-en-Provence, France on the 19th of January, 1839. His father Auguste Cézanne - a banker - provided him with financial security and his mother Anne-Elisabeth Honorine Aubert helped him to form a perfect vision of life.

His life as an artist starts from St.Joseph school, where he learned drawing under Joseph Gibert, a Spanish monk. Paul Cézanne's father's wanted his son to study law; seeing that his son's interest laid elsewhere, the relationship between them became rather strained. Paul was sent to Bourbon College at the age of 13, where he met his friend Emile Zola, who inspired him to weave great dreams for the future. From 1859 to 1861, he studied in law at his father wish. Finally, realising that painting was his profession, he turned against his father's wish and joined Zola in Paris in 1861. Gradually, he reconciled with his father and got support for his choice of career. This was a strong support for the young budding artist and helped him to blossom.

To excel in his career, it was important to join an Official Academy. There he got acquainted with the impressionists Monet, Pissarro and Renoir. Paul Cézanne's way of painting portraits on canvas was totally different from the impressionist style. In the place of smooth, bland, fine brush strokes, Paul Cézanne's brush strokes were rather hard and rude. Later, his acquaintance with Camille Pissarro helped him to improve his painting skills. His former canvases were imaginatively painted with large and heavy figures against landscapes. Slowly, Paul Cézanne developed his style of portrait in such a way as to impress the art lovers. His statement, "I want to make of impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museum", highlights his efforts to modify impressionism.

Paul Cézanne's style of portraiture was distinct from that of other artists. He represented naturally occurring forms in geometric forms such as cone, cylinder and sphere. The visual effects, such as 3D and 2D effects that he maintained throughout his work were another notable feature. These illusions are visible in almost all his paintings. Cézanne's paintings are characterised by their unique colour, design and style of composition. His portraits express an intense study of his themes. Cézanne constantly modified his paintings by adding more detail to the canvas, since he always considered them to be incomplete.

His body of work showed great maturity during the last 25 years of his life. Even now, Paul Cézanne's canvases are among the most sought after artworks. Portrait of Cézanne's Father, Hortense Fiquet in a Striped Skirt, Le paysan, and Boy in a Red Vest are some of his famous portraits.

Cézanne died of pneumonia on October 22nd 1906, leaving a huge vacuum in the world of art.