He moved a whole generation of painters towards early 20th century Cubism. Picasso referred to him as his “one and only master, the father of us all”.
And what is the connection with wine you may ask? The wine that symbolises the timeless way of life in Provence is of course Rosé. Cézanne’s paintings have inspired many of us to travel to the South of France to discover the lifestyle and the magic of the place all combined in the lightness of Rosé wine.
A glass of Rosé is more; it’s a glass of joy, it takes us away and leaves our daily chores behind.
Cézanne (1839-1906) struggled to become a painter. His father, a banker, was not amused or supportive. But in 1861 he was finally able to go to Paris. Only to be rejected by the Paris Salon and the Salon des Refusés. He returned home depressed, defeated and moody. He only went back to Paris to escape the Franco-Prussian war. During that time he struck a friendship with Camille Pissarro. His support gave him the strength and determination to carry on painting. But in 1878 he finally left Paris to return to his beloved Provence where he stayed for the rest of his life.
In 1895, for the first time after almost 20 years, Cézanne exhibited in the gallery of Ambroise Vollard
‘The Basket of Apples’
Take a closer look and you will detect hard edges emerging; the white table cloth is sharp and angular. The apples seem nothing more than red-orange balls. The basket is tilted forward, but we cannot see any support. The yellow of the loaves of bread adds more colour and sets off the yellow on the apples. And then there are the short block strokes so typical for Cézanne.
His own personal nature was somewhat abstract and hard-edged, not unlike other post-impressionists, such as Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.
Cézanne had left Paris to return to his roots, he worked for years and did not bother to show his work in the fashionable Parisian Salons at all. Doing his own thing as we would say today and by doing just that became the father of all those modern painters who came after him.
He is the inspiration to all those who simply follow their own path. Hmm….it reminds me a bit of grape growers & wine makers …!
Cheers Ulrike
🎨 The Basket of Apples by Paul Cézanne, c. 1893.