The Real Cézanne

PAUL CEZANNE (French, 1839-1906), *La Montagne Sainte-Victoire,* oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 31 7/8 in. (65.2 x 81.2 cm.), Painted in 1888-1890, Image Source: Christie’s

“In removing recognizable details, Cezanne moved a step forward in his desire to fully translate the sensation of standing within nature…As Cezanne described, in the present work, he has rendered the mountain in a palette of soft blues, as well as lilacs and pinks, lending this monumental landmark a sense of ephemeral lightness that perfectly captures the effect of visual perception, rather than the weighty reality, of this mass. Horizontal planes impart perspective, as areas of verdant green give way to rich ochres and terracotta, before the cooler toned mountain rises, no less dominant despite its recessive position amid the landscape. “Nature isn’t at the surface; it’s in depth,” Cezanne once explained. “Colors are the expression on this surface, of this depth. They rise up out of the earth’s roots: they are its life, the life of ideas” (quoted in N. Athanassoglou-Kallmyer, Cezanne and Provence: The Painter and his Culture, Chicago, 2003, p. 180).”
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