Paul Cezanne is a French Post-Impressionist painter.
Now, I have absolutely no clue what Impressionism was, let alone Post-Impressionism. So I looked it up.
"Impressionist painting characteristics include relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), common, ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles."
- Short, thick strokes of paint quickly capture the essence of the subject, rather than its details. The paint is often applied impasto.
- Colours are applied side-by-side with as little mixing as possible, creating a vibrant surface. The optical mixing of colours occurs in the eye of the viewer.
- Grays and dark tones are produced by mixing complementary colours. Pure impressionism avoids the use of black paint.
- Wet paint is placed into wet paint without waiting for successive applications to dry, producing softer edges and intermingling of colour.
- Painters often worked in the evening to produce effets de soir—the shadowy effects of evening or twilight.
- Impressionist paintings do not exploit the transparency of thin paint films (glazes), which earlier artists manipulated carefully to produce effects. The impressionist painting surface is typically opaque.
- The play of natural light is emphasized. Close attention is paid to the reflection of colours from object to object.
- In paintings made en plein air (outdoors), shadows are boldly painted with the blue of the sky as it is reflected onto surfaces, giving a sense of freshness previously not represented in painting. (Blue shadows on snow inspired the technique.)
"Post-Impressionists extended Impressionism while rejecting its limitations: they continued using vivid colours, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and real-life subject matter, but they were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and to use unnatural or arbitrary colour."
Now that I got the basics covered, I can move onto Paul Cezanne. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, interesting things. Hearing that Picasso and Matisse said that Cezanne "is the father of us all" made my ears perk up. Also the fact that Cezanne didn't have any financial worries surprised me too, especially since there's always that myth surrounding starving artists. The light airy techniques of his paintings intrigue me as well. They evoke moods that words alone cannot.
Also the way that Cezanne approached his work very similarly reminds me of how I was taught to draw growing up. To simplify and to look at everything in terms of geometric shapes. I don't know if even after years of formal training that technique has stuck with me or not, but I have definitely learned to draw like that before.
Cezanne liked to concentrate on still lifes, portraits, landscapes, and studies of bathers.
The fact that Cezanne died while painting took "doing what you love" to a whole other level.
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I especially enjoy the landscapes he painted of mountains. He utilized the physical structure of a mountain- jagged, rocky, and rough- and through that, the essence of cubism evolved.
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