Paul Cezanne - Artist Biography

Paul Cezanne will always hold a place in the history of art--not only because of the quality and originality of his works, but also because of his pioneering style. Many people consider Cezanne to be one of the first truly modern artists, leading the way for a school of thought and style that would survive decades after his death. Above all, Cezanne is hailed as having been mainly responsible for the development of Cubism.

Cezanne: The Early Years
Cezanne was born in Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France. The son of a successful banking family, Cezanne took a traditional approach early in life and began studying to be a lawyer. Eventually his love for art would lead him away from the law, and in 1862 he moved to Paris and enrolled in the Atelier Suisse.

At the Atelier Suisse, Cezanne studied and painted along fellow future masters Degas, Renoir and Sisley. Cezanne, however, didn't have much success with the Salon, and had his first exhibition put on by the Academie Francaise. In 1874, Cezanne presented several paintings in the very first Impressionist exhibition. Despite his success with Impressionism and the influence on his work by earlier painters like Delacroix and Courbet, Cezanne would soon move on to form his own style.

Cezanne once said that art should act as "a harmony which runs parallel with nature," and this theme drove his work. Seeking to reduce nature to its most basic forms, Cezanne focused on the cylinder, the sphere and the cone. Many of Cezanne's most important works are available in print form on PosterCheckOut.