Paul Cézanne

PAUL CEZANNE (1839-1906) is an important figure in the progress of modern European painting. In his dedicated concern with form and structure, he stands apart from the mainstream of Impressionist painting, extending its range into a new art of visual analysis. Cezanne, sensitive and shy, shunned the Parisian cafe society of his fellow artists, preferring to live and work alone in his native Provence which provided the inspiration for so many of his paintings. Less immediately appealing to a wider audience than, for example, Monet and Degas, Cezanne is nonetheless of immense importance through the influence he exerted on so many of the artists who followed him, such as Picasso and Matisse. Blessed with financial independence through the efforts of his banker father, he fortunately enjoyed a freedom to pursue his art without the demands of making a living felt by so many of his fellow artists.