Midterm Essay

Paul Cézanne is regarded as the Father of Modern Art. He was the preeminent French artist of the Post-Impressionist era. Cézanne is credited with paving the way for the emergence of twenthieth-century modernism, both visually and conceptually. He first started out with a relatively dark palette, but eventually abandoned that for brilliant tones as shown in his first painting with this technique "Bathers." His breaststrokes show how he wanted to "construct" a picture rather than "paint". Cezanne was unsatisfied with the Impressionist idea that painting is primarily a reflection of visual perception. So he wanted to make his artistic practice a new kind of discipline. Cézanne's work became a catalyst for the abstract art of the 20th century.  Cézanne found a balance and started creating solidly anchored shapes and figures, while using the bold, lifelike colors of the Impressionists. He was a precursor for Fauvism and Cubism. Particularly noticeable in his landscapes, Cézanne itemized objects such as trees or mountains by color, which created one large field of varying tones. By doing this, he unraveled an effect known as ‘flat-depth’. This effect causes the view to appear two-dimensional. Picasso and Matisse remarked Cezanne as "the father of us all."