Midterm essay

Paul Cezanne was a French painter who was part of the Post-Impressionism movement, and also played a role in the emergence of Modern Art. Cezanne began to abandon the ideas of Impressionism and found a new way to appreciate the world through art. Cezanne was said to have taught artists to free form from color in their art- and this created a “new and subjective pictorial reality.” Although Cezanne played a huge role in Post-Impressionism, this also led to him playing an even more important role in Modern Art itself. He had many key ideas that linked parts of Impressionism to more materialist movements like Fauvism, Cubism, and Expressionism. One of the most important ideas that made Cezanne so influential to both Post-Impressionism and Modern Art is that he did not make his work a reflection of what he saw visually, but more of a reflection of his feelings and memories. It is also said that instead of “painting” a picture he rather constructed it by making it so that every part of his canvas contributed to the overall piece. Lastly, he was considered a mentor to future Cubist’s because his ability to display sculptural dimensions- or examining a portrait from more than one angle- making his work “a harmony parallel to nature.” He was so successful in doing this because he was able to find a balance between loose and chaotic, and classical and structured, not only that but he was able to paint in every genre whether it be landscapes, portraits, or still-life. Paul Cezanne was coined one of the fathers of Modern Art, rightfully so, as he found innovative ways to paint the world.