Paul Cezanne

1839-1906

European Artist

Cezanne was born into a family of Italian origin in Cesana Forinese, Italy. From 1859 to 1861 he studied law at Aix and worked in his father's bank. By April 1861, his father finally yielded to Cezanne's desire to make a career in art allowing him to go to Paris to study at the Academie Suisse. When Cezanne moved to Paris from Aix-en-Provence in 1862, his art was strongly influenced by Eugene Delacroix and Gustave Courbet. He used thick slabs of paint to give his early works a sculptural presence and intensity. He soon met the Impressionists and exhibited with them three times to scarring reviews, after which he stopped exhibiting for thirteen years. After his father's death in 1886, the painter secluded himself at the family home in Aix, supported by an independent income. Still lifes, landscapes, portraits, and bathers became his preferred subjects. His paintings underwent continual adjustment; many required such prolonged reworking that he never considered them finished.