Cezanne ‘continues to matter’
TATE MODERN’S EXHIBITION EXPLORES WHY ONE OF THE GREATEST-EVER ARTISTS WAS ‘SO REVOLUTIONARY’
EVERY once in a while you get an exhibition that falls into the “not to be missed” category, and Cezanne at Tate Modern is the perfect example.
Tate Modern has called the exhibition, featuring 80 of his works, “a once-in-ageneration exhibition of paintings, watercolours and drawings by Paul Cezanne”.
Famously referred to as the “greatest of us all” by Claude Monet, Cezanne remains a pivotal figure in modern painting who gave license to generations of artists to break the rules.
I don’t want to sound like that character in the Sanjeev Bhaskar sketch who detects a hidden Indian hand behind just about everything. Having said that, Cezanne’s father does sound positively Indian in his attitudes.
Here we have Paul Cezanne (18391906) one of the greatest painters in the world. But his father, Louis Auguste Cezanne (1798-1886), didn’t think much of his son’s talents. A successful banker himself, he wanted him to get a proper job and become a lawyer. But Cezanne decided to be guided by his friend, the novelist Emile Zola, and follow his heart and become an artist. However, all his life, Louis Auguste supported his son so that he did not actually have to sell his paintings to making a living.
Another influence on Cezanne was the artist Camille Pissarro, whom he considered a father figure. Pissarro persuaded him to move away from dark subjects and lighten up by doing landscapes, for example.
One of Cezanne’s paintings from his dark period is called The Murder, done in 1870. It was painted at a time when the French were becoming obsessed with crime stories.
“This murky, brutal scene reflects a widespread fascination with murder and acts of violence in the late 19th-century France,” it is suggested. “Newspapers and the popular press helped fuel this interest, publishing shocking news stories and graphic illustrations for an increasingly literate public.
“It is possible that an article of this kind inspired The Murder. Cezanne may also be responding to Zola’s 1868 novel, Thérèse Raquin. Featuring a murderous love triangle at the heart of the story, it signals the darkened spirit of the times.”
Cezanne, who is known for his still-life paintings of apples, once said: “With an apple I will astonish Paris.” He did. When he painted fruit easily available in Provence, where he was living, he used blue textiles as background. The design was inspired by indigo tapestries imported from India in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Created amid a rapidly accelerating world, Cezanne’s works focus on the local and the everyday, concentrating on the artist’s own personal experiences to make sense of the chaos and uncertainty of modern life.”
Tate Modern adds: “Cezanne brings together over 80 carefully selected works from collections in Europe, Asia, North and South America, giving UK audiences their first opportunity in over 25 years to explore the breadth of Cezanne’s career.
“Featuring key examples of his iconic still-life paintings, Provençale landscapes, portraits and bather scenes, the exhibition includes over 20 works never seen in the UK before such as The Basket of Apples c 1893 (The Art Institute of Chicago); Mont Sainte-Victoire 1902-06 (Philadelphia Museum of Art); and Still Life with Milk Pot, Melon, and Sugar Bowl 1900-06 (private collection). New research into the colours, compositions and techniques used in these works will reveal how the artist’s bold approach challenged conventions and in ways that continue to influence painters working today.”
It added: “The exhibition tells the story of a young ambitious painter from the southern city of Aix-en-Provence, determined to succeed as an artist in metropolitan Paris in the 1860s, yet constantly rejected by the art establishment. It reveals how he befriended Camille Pissarro and associated with the impressionists in the 1870s, but soon distanced himself from their circle and the Parisian art scene, returning to his native Provence in relentless pursuit of his own radical style.
“The exhibition traces Cezanne’s artistic development from paintings made in his 20s such as the striking portrait Scipio 1866-8 (Museu de Arte de São Paulo) through to works completed in the final months of his life like Seated Man 1905-6 (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid).
“Another gallery brings together several magnificent examples of Cezanne’s bather paintings, a lifelong subject for the artist, including the National Gallery’s Bathers 1894-1905, one of his largest and most celebrated paintings created in the final stage of his career.”
Tate Modern also makes the point that “while Cezanne is often mythologised as a solitary figure, the exhibition spotlights the relationships central to his life, particularly his wife Marie-Hortense Fiquet and their son Paul, immortalised in paintings such as Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair c. 1877 (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) and Portrait of the Artist’s Son 1881-2 (Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris). It examines Cezanne’s intense relationship with childhood friend Émile Zola and reveals how peers such as Monet and Pissarro were among the first to appreciate his unique vision.”
Ahead of a guided tour of the artworks, Tate Modern’s director, Frances Morris, said: “Tate has a long relationship with Cezanne, beginning rather unfortunately 100 years ago when the then director declined the offer of a loan of an early work. He rejected Cezanne as ‘too modern.’
“This is a different era. And in this era, it just feels right to take a fresh look at Cezanne. He is seen as a pivotal figure in the direction of modern art. This exhibition is slightly different to those that have come before. We take that kind of personal look at an artist to understand again, and in this period, why his work was so radical, so revolutionary, and particularly to ask how it resonates today. The exhibition includes 80 very carefully chosen works, chosen by our wonderful curatorial team. Cezanne continues to matter.”
The guided tour was given by the exhibition’s curator, Natalia Sidlina, and a member of her team, Michael Raymond.
Sidlina said: “Cezanne is regarded as one of the most enigmatic figures in the late 19th, early 20th century art”, adding that in the closing years of his life, “Cezanne was very much aware he had reserved himself a place in art history”.
Meanwhile, Raymond went back to the beginning of the painter’s career. “In 1861, Cezanne was 22 years old. His father, a respectable businessman, a banker, was trying to persuade him to go into a career of law. Meanwhile, his best friend, the celebrated author Emile Zola, was trying to convince him to join him in Paris. Cezanne has a decision to make. Thankfully for us, he decided to follow Zola and move to Paris.”
Cezanne is on at Tate Modern until March 12, 2023