Cézanne and Paris

Anative of Aix-en-Provence by birth, Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) went to Paris for the first time in 1861, at the insistence of his childhood friend Émile Zola. Cézanne decided to become a painter, against his family's advice, determined to make his mark on the Parisian scene that was then intrinsic to any successful artistic career.

Paradoxically, Cézanne dit not use Paris as a theme for his paintings : he did not represent its streets, its monuments, life in the area, or the great urban transformations taking place, unlike many of his contemporaries, including Caillebotte, Guillaumin, and Pissarro.

So was the painter indifférent to this city ?

Throughout his life, he would make over twenty return trips to Paris from Aix, without ever setting down in the capital, even though some of his stays there were lengthy.

So what was Cézanne looking for in Paris ? What kind of influence did the capital have on his painting ? He had contacts with artistic and intellectual circles that were liberal in both thought and lifestyle, and was he determined at all costs to resist their temptation ?

Was he drawn by the city's vibrant creative buzz, seeing it as something essential to the development of his art ?

From a range of viewpoints and using extensive illustrations, this book explores these questions by following the painter's career in Paris and the surrounding area, as well as the motifs he used and pictorial choices he made.