Paul Cézanne born in
1839, Aix-en Provence was a Post-impressionist French painter who became the
bridge between impressionism and early modern art such as Cubism. One of his most
recognized pieces is ‘The Large Bathers’ that was produced towards the end of his
life. In this painting he did not conform
to nineteenth century methods and was applauded by critics for its wide spaces,
well –formed figures and use of color (Artble, 2013). Cézanne was able to
fulfill his purpose of creating a timeless piece. Two upcoming artists that
were highly influenced by the way Cézanne analyzed and pulled apart the subject
matter were Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. This influence of Cézanne is
evident in paintings of Matisse’s ‘Bonheur de Vivre
(Joy of Life)’ and Picasso’s ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’.
Considered one of his greatest Fauve painting Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre (Joy of Life) depicts an ‘Arcadian landscape filled with brilliantly colored forest,
meadow, sea, and sky and populated by nude figures both at rest and in motion’
(Khan Academy, 2013). As a Fauve painting the color is responsive only to
expression and to the formal needs of the canvas and not to the realities of
nature. In addition this painting ‘Bonheur de Vivre’ is evidently inspired by
Cézanne, as Matisse uses similarly the landscape in the painting as a stage and
unifies the figures and the landscape. In fact Matisse’s painting is seen to be
the closest to the last great image of Cézanne
‘The Bathers’ (Khan Academy, 2013). However Matisse breaks free from the total
influence of Cézanne by using as well the odalisques
and harem fantasies of Jean Ingres and scenes of mythical pleasure by Titian.
In
an effort to outshine Matisse’s Bonheur de Vivre (Joy of Life) Picasso painted ‘Les
Demoiselles d’Avignon’ which turned Matisse’s ‘Bonheur de Vivre’
sensuality into violent pornography (Khan Academy, 2013). Picasso referred to Cézanne
as ‘my one and only master’ and although inspired by Cezanne’s works, Picasso was able
to break free by creating a new form of art called Cubism (Zoffany, 2013). In
Cubism objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted form,
instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject
from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context
(Wikipedia 2013).
To conclude, Paul Cézanne works were integral to the development of abstract art in the
twentieth century. His mastery of design, tone, composition and color has left
an artistic legacy which has led to great works and the further evolution of
art by artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.
References
Zoffany, J. (2013) The Large Bathers Retrieved from http://mydailyartdisplay.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/the-large-bathers-by-paul-cezanne/
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