Paul Cézanne: The Life of an Artist - Art History School

hello my name is Paul Priestley welcome to artists in school the home of art history for young people and for interested amateurs today we're going to be looking at the French painter the life and work of the great post impressionist artist Paul Cezanne Paul may have had the genius of a great painter but you will never possess the genius to actually become one he despairs even the smallest obstacle so said his friend emile zola Paul Cezanne 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 insolent he was often referred to as the Hermit of eggs on Provence Paul Cezanne was born on the 19th of January 1839 enix on Provence in France the eldest of three children at the age of 13 in 1852 Cezanne attended the humanist College in akes the College Borbon where he became good friends with jean-baptiste Palais and emile zola who later earned fame as a writer Suzanne's father was not a Thorat Aryan figured unlike his son who was indecisive and lacked self-confidence Suzanne was quite incapable of standing up to his domineering father as a consequence Susanne followed his father's wishes and began a law course at akes University in 1859 but Suzanne also attended evening classes at the drawing school in eggs and won second prize for figure painting meanwhile his father bought the just de Buffon estate near akes the former summer residence of the governor of Provo but Suzanne was finding living at home intolerable and became became increasingly withdrawn eventually in 1861 his father allowed him to leave takes on Provence and traveled to Paris where he met up with his friend emile zola suzanne spent that summer in paris in the louvre copying paintings by Titian and Rubens he also studied life drawing at the academy Suisse where he met Camille Pissarro who would eventually become his mentor he painted a portrait of Emiel Zola but he didn't finish it he became increasingly despondent as his lack of success and he soon returned to aches on Provence reluctantly he took a job at his father's bank but he also attended the local drawing school again surprisingly the following year he managed to persuade his father to let him leave the bank and give him an allowance of a hundred and twenty-five francs a month so he could set up a studio at home but harmony did not last and by November 1862 he was back in Paris during 1863 in 1864 suzanne worked regularly at the academy Suisse in Paris where he met Renoir Monet and sizzly he applied to the prestigious Ecole de Bourgh's art but was rejected because they felt his paintings were overworked but that did not stop him exhibiting a salon Daly refused a with mani and Pesaro unfortunately his paintings were described as looking as though the paint had been flung at the canvas the following year he entered paintings for the salon but they were rejected the annual salon exhibition in Paris was where every successful artist aspired to exhibit but the academicians who organized the salon were very conservative Suzanne's work stood little chance of being accepted despite the letter of protest he sent to the Director of Fine Arts down caste again returned to Exxon province and began painting outside for the very first time he also painted this picture of his father reading a newspaper the tension here is particularly evident in energetic and expressive handling of the paint almost an exaggeration of Gustave Courbet 's palette knife techniques in 1869 he met Hortense VK a 19 year old book binder who would become his lover but later in the year the salon rejected his work again this happened again in 1870 but this time he was also humiliated an art critic named stalk wrote an article about the sun'll which included a caricature of says AM resplendent with a walrus mustache and his two rejected paintings says and defiantly defended himself dear mr. stock he wrote I paint how I see how I feel I have very strong feelings you paint some paintings I take risks mr. stock I take risks but when the franco-prussian war broke out in 1870 Suzanne decided to spend the time with Hortense in Les deke in southern France but despite the relationship which he kept secret from his father for the next eight years he still felt lonely perhaps this was because he was shy around women and panic-stricken at the very thought of physical contact yet in 1872 says AM son Paul was born and the family moved to ovair sir who's here he worked closely with his friend and mentor camille pissarro Basara who was nine years older than suzanne was sympathetic tolerant and a born teacher almost a surrogate father Pissarro advised him to remove dark colors from his pouch not to paint with black but only with the three primary colors and their derivatives Susanne took his advice and the creation of his dark expressive intuitive paintings came to an end in 1873 he met dr. Gachet who would years later look after that God says I'm painted in dr. gachet's house and there he met the art dealer julian Tanguay who allowed him to exchange his pictures for paint the first exhibition of the Impressionists was held at the photographer Nadal studio in 1874 Cezanne showed three paintings his works the house of the hanged man a modern Olympia and landscape all there attracted considerable attention but Monet was not impressed and he described Susanne as a bricklayer who paints with a trowel despite the criticism the house of the hangman sold for 300 francs 1875 brought another rejection by the psalm and through Renoir Cezanne met the art lover Victor Chaka who became one of his most enthusiastic collectors two years later he showed 16 paintings at the third impressionist exhibition but after a hail of criticism decided not to show with the Impressionists again he spent most of 1878 in Acheson province and l'Estaque wealth Hortense and his son Paul lived in Marseilles unfortunately his father learned of his family's existence so he cooked Suzanne's family allowance luckily emile zola made up the shortfall and you've guessed it his work was a game rejected by the salon between 1879 and 1885 he tried many more times 22 work for the salon but apart from one success all ended in rejection finally admitted defeat in 1886 his friendship with emile zola came to an abrupt end after Zola published his novel the masterpiece about a failed artist says Anne was angry as he thought the story was partly based on him later that year though he married Hortense shortly before he inherited the house at Shasta bouffant and a considerable fortune following the death of his father now he would spend most of his time in Exxon Province painting in the surrounding landscape Cezanne rejected the theories of the Impressionists theories of light he wasn't interested in momentary light effects and reflections you'll notice there is no recognizable light source in many of his paintings therefore there's no heavy shadows the light is even colors are given equal weight wherever they appear in the picture this is because he wasn't satisfied with simply painting what he saw he wanted to delve deep into nature and depict what was permanent about it they applied paint in a series of discreet methodical brushstrokes as though constructing a picture rather than painting it if he couldn't achieve the exact color balance he sort he simply abandoned the painting where he stood or he destroyed it in a fit of fury in this still life painting cherries and peaches says and developed a completely new way of depicting objects in space notice the plate of cherries are tilted forwards as though we are looking down on them the same is true of the back of the table but the front of the table is painted as though we are seeing it horizontally from the front the plate and peaches and the jug are also painted from a low angle he was using multiple viewpoints an idea Picasso would later develop so showed three paintings at the twenty exhibition in Brussels in 1890 but later that year was diagnosed with diabetes and as he grew older and more isolated he increasingly retreated into the solitude of Shasta bufang where he could paint undisturbed however he did paint people but his models tended to be male and cheap to hire such as farmers and laborers as can be seen in these wonderful paintings of card players he wasn't interested in their personalities or their emotions he was simply interested in the composition the structure of the painting and the careful balance between the colors and the forms 1895 saw his first one-man exhibition at the gallery of the Paris art dealer Ambrose valid but two years later his mother died adjust the Bufo was surprisingly sold Suzanne moved into an apartment in exon Provence and he employed a housekeeper who apparently told a friend I am under strict instructions not to touch him not even with my dress when I brush past him the national gallery in Berlin became the first gallery to buy one of Suzanne's paintings in 1897 but from then on apart from a few relatively short visits to Paris says Anna spent most of his time in aches on Provence painting his beloved mountain Mont Sam victori air he would paint the mountain many many times in 1902 we bought a pot of Landers chemin des love and built a studio house the following year emile zola died and his art collection was auctioned interestingly the works by Cezanne sold for an average of 1,500 francs each in Paris in 1904 says an exhibited 30 paintings he sänger Tom but despite becoming increasingly reclusive and weakened buys diabetes he decided on one last great project he would create a number of large paintings based around an idea that first appeared at the beginning of his career namely semi-abstract figures in a landscape the bathers as they were called included figures taken from numerous sources life drawings done many years earlier at the academy Swiss sketches made from illustrations in his sisters fashion magazines and most importantly from pencil sketches he'd made in the Louvre of paintings by dellacroix Rubens Raphael met Michelangelo and proofs and he didn't use live models you'll notice that says am strictly segregated the sexes to remove any element of the sensual or the erotic this was so he could concentrate on the compositional and formal problems of the painting the figures become spiritual beings he again exhibited at sound or tongue in 1905 but his health was deteriorating he was suffering from depression which manifested itself in an increasingly paranoid distrust of people the summer of 1960 fling Li hot Susanne found it intolerable and could only paint on the banks of the river in eggs where the air was slightly cooler that autumn whilst painting outside he was caught in a torrential storm a week later on the 22nd of October he died of pneumonia and was buried at the Sun Pierre Cemetery in exon Provence Picasso referred to Paul Cezanne as my only master Orin Matisse as the father of us all more importantly they both realize that Suzanne had provided the creative foundation for so much of the art that followed in the 20th century thank you for watching I hope you really enjoy learning about Paul says and wonderful artists if you have them please subscribe to my channel and click the little black bell as well because then you'll get to know what I'm doing and all my lake to see all my latest videos if you would like to contribute towards the making of these videos then please check out my patreon channel where you'll find lots of interesting rewards in return for your patronage that will be wonderful I'll see you in the next video goodbye

Channel: Art History School

Views: 293,695

Keywords: Paul Cezanne, Paul Cézanne, learn about paul cezanne, Hortense Fiquet, founder of modern art, Paul cezanne still life, paul cezanne still life paintings, artist in school, art history, famous artists, artist, history of art, French Artist, Aix en Provence, Mont Sainte Victoire, Camille Pissarro, Post Impressionism, Post Impressionist, Paul Priestley, Jas de Bouffan, Impressionism, France, French art, Nadar, art history video, modern art, The bathers

Id: 8agD9o37cAk

Length: 16min 18sec (978 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020