Paul Cezanne

When most people think of Paul Cezanne, they think of two

words genius and painting. For these two words he is consider by

far to be the Father of modern painting. Cezanne was born in

Aix-en-Provence in 1839. He was to die in the same town in 1906.

His life and art work was greatly influenced by this small town

in France.

He was the son of a shrewd business man, Louis-Auguste

Cezanne. As a boy growing up in Aix, Cezanne loved to study Greek

and Latin literature. At the age of thirteen, Paul met Emile Zola

at the College Bourbon. The friendship was very important for

both of the young men and lasted until the publication of Zola's

novel L'Oeuvre in 1886, in which the writer portrays an

unsuccessful artist whose character based upon Paul. Deeply hurt,

Cezanne broke forever with his longtime friend. At school, the

boys were nearly inseparable. Both were interested in writing and

literature. Emile and Paul would write letters and rhymed verse

to each other for the next decade or so in which they expressed

their most intimate feelings and emotions together with

information about their everyday life. Paul's father disapproved

of Zola and his family especially after Emile's father had died.

In February 1858 Zola moved to Paris together with his

mother. Which made Paul want to go to Paris to join up with

Emile. When in 1861 he finally obtained his father's permission

to study art in Paris, Cezanne's first attempt to settle down

there failed. Disillusioned with the art world, he returned to

his family after only six months and entered his father's bank as

a clerk. The following year he went to Paris again, and this time

he stayed. During this years he lead a rather frugal life due to

his father's meager allowance. Every year he submitted canvases

to the artists' Salons, but was regularly rejected. Cezanne did

his first show with a group named the "Society of Painters,

Draftsman, Sculptors, and Engravers" comprised of Pierre-Auguste

Renoir, Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Pissarro and Cezanne

himself. The group's first show was in April