Cezanne

On Monday we looked at the work of Paul Cezanne. I have attached a painting that formed the basis of our discussions over the sessions. The picture is both about painting a traditional still life set up and reinventing the language of painting.

‘This is one of Cézanne’s most complex late still lifes. Beyond the foreground e on which stands a plaster Cupid, the space and the arrangement of figures become highly ambiguous. The green apple on the floor in the far corner seems too large and the floor itself appears tilted. The blue drapery in the painting, propped up against the wall at the left, merges with a similar fabric in Cézanne’s own still life. Cézanne may have been using these paradoxes to stress the artificiality of the composition, and perhaps, to comment on the act of painting itself.’ (Art Uk). I’ve also attached this link to a You Tube video by Coralie Malissard that discuses the onion on the table that I mentioned yesterday. Coralie Malissard (Bridget Riley Art Foundation Curatorial Assistant, The Courtauld Gallery) hosts this weeks ‘In Detail’ short film to showcase Cézanne's ’Still Life with Plaster Cupid’, hailed as one of the artists most complex late still-lives.