Cezanne in Provence

An exhibition of 117 of Cezanne's paintings is currently on display at the National Gallery of Art. Cezanne This exhibition focuses on the paintings of Cézanne in and around his native Aix-en-Provence, and the exhibit marks the centenary of the death of Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). This exhibition displays landscape paintings around Provence, and also many other paintings of Cezanne during his lifetime -- portraits, still lifes, and watercolors. The exhibit displays Cezanne's development as an artist during the years that he lived in Provence, from 1860 until the end of his life. The exhibit shows his Impressionist paintings, his palette knife paintings, and his progression as a painter leading up to the beginnings of Cubism.

I am not a fan of Cezanne. Although I do enjoy some of his early Impressionist paintings, and I find his palette knife paintings interesting, I find much of his techinque and his subject matter uninspiring. Many of his paintings seem to be unfinished, leaving parts of the canvas unexposed. His paintings focus on trees (often filling the entire canvas with trees), large rocks, and a single mountain, Mont Sainte-Victoire. His paintings are filled with greys and blues, and seem dark and gloomy and uninspired. And his technique of painting blocks of color seems childlike. As a person untrained in art, it is hard for me to understand Cezanne's place in art. His works pale by comparison with those of other Impressionists, such as Monet, Pizarro, Renoir, and Degas, whose paintings fill one with awe and inspiration. Compare, for example the richness of Degas' painting, L'absinthe with a comparable painting of Cezanne, The Card Players. I am pleased that I went to the exhibition, but I am left with wonder, rather than awe. This is the Washington Post review of the exhibition.