Paul Cézanne

11839-1906

Aix-en-Provence, France

Paul Cézanne was one of the great Post-Impressionist painters, whose works and ideas strongly influenced the development of many 20th-century artists and art movements, especially Cubism.

Paul Cézanne, the great Post-Impressionist artist was a stubborn man who refused to compromise or make any form of concession to society, or to art for that matter. This often made him appear a strange and eccentric figure. He lived for his painting, it was his only passion in life, friends and family took second place and as he grew older and more insular, he was often referred to as the Hermit of Aix-en-Provence.

Paul Cézanne was born on the 19th of January 1839 in Aix en Provence in France, the eldest of three children. His father exported felt hats and his mother was the daughter of a wood turner from Marseille. At the age of 13, in 1852, Cézanne attended the Humanist College in Aix, the College Bourbon, where he became good friends with Jean Baptiste Baille and Emile Zola, who’d later earn fame as a writer.

Cézanne’s father was an authoritarian figure, unlike his son, who was indecisive and lacked self-confidence. As a consequence, Cézanne followed his father’s wishes and began a law course at Aix University in 1859. But Cézanne also attended evening classes at the drawing school in Aix and won a second prize for figure painting. Meanwhile, his father bought the Jas de Bouffan estate near Aix, the former summer residence of the governor of Provence. But Cézanne found living at home intolerable and he became increasingly withdrawn. Eventually, in 1861, his father allowed him to leave ‘Aix en Provence’ and travel to Paris where he met up with his friend Emile Zola.