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The Innovations and Artistic Choices of Cezanne

Paul Cézanne (1816-1910) employed innovative ideas in his art including an ambiguity of perception, the use of tectonic facture, and a high concentration on the edge of objects. These radical artistic choices are represented in his masterpieces including Still Life with Plaster Cupid (1895).

Cézanne rejected comprehensive space by using multiple points of perspective. There is comprehensible space, yet there is no specific vanishing point evident in the composition. This ambiguity of perception shows the process of apperception, where multiple views of plains and colors are used to show a recognizable space. The objects are depicted over a period of time, to capture the feelings and sensations of those objects rather than the visually correct version. . In Eisenman’s article, The Failure and Success of Cézanne, he states that “Cézanne expressed – through a subtle balance of facture, tonality, color, volume, and mass – the desire for the simultaneous independence and cooperation of each” (Eisenman, 350). Deeply rooted in the proletarian movement in France, Cézanne had no interest in the political life, but preferred to isolate himself in the naturalistic world of Southern France. His paintings captured the sensations of nature in an imaginative way while being rooted to the visual world. He combined the inner and outer realities to create a dialectical work of art which contained two opposing ideas.

There is a use of tectonic facture in Cézanne’s work since brushwork is independent of the object it represents, but still captures its material reality. We recognize the texture as paint on canvas while still understanding the construction of the subject in space. Eisenman quoted who said “The invention of forme in the French modernist sense – meaning the condition of paint that constitutes a pictorial structure. It is the discovery of an intrinsic structure inherent in the medium and the material” (Eisenman, 342) Cézanne captures the essential parts of the objects even once he reduces the details to create a visual map. The artist felt that he was creating a perception of a still life rather then a distortion. Cézanne asserted the reality that the viewer is looking at paint on canvas by making the individual brushstrokes standout. Through “true painting” Cézanne paid attending to the edges of objects by color changes rather than line, or differences in tone. He used the same art theories that fascinated the Neo-impressionists but used it for his own means to increase the drama of a painting the relation between objects.

Cézanne used color to focus on the edges of objects to create drama. Cézanne used ideas from the Neo-impressionists concerning color theories where warm colors advance and cool colors recede. Eisenman believed that “…in order to attend to the depth as well as the surface appearance of things, the artist must reject traditional modeling with light and dark and instead modulate with warm and cool hues” (Eisenman, 350). He believed that drama appeared in the borders of objects and harmony was achieved through color rather then a blunt edge. Cézanne appreciated the monumental and permanent aspects of the traditional art produced by the French Academy while rejecting their ideal forms and methods of applying paint. “…in the course of his long career, Cézanne changed from a Romantic rebel to a cultural revolutionary” (Eisenman, 338). As a movement Cézanne’s art stands on its own due to his innovative ideas and he has even been called the father of modern art.

In Still Life with Plaster Cupid, Cézanne uses all three innovative techniques to modulate the image. The technique that is most evident is the ambiguous use of space, and lack of any distinct perspective. This gives the image a tilted feeling in the background, yet the plaster statue stands firmly planted to the surface of the table which creates a conflict. At first look the image seems accurate to nature, yet through apperception Cezanne creates a perception of the still life rather then staying true to perspective. Color is naturalistically used with close attention paid to the visual effects of warm and cool colors to create tension between objects. The artistic choice which is used the least in Still Life with Plaster Cupid is tectonic facture. The brushstrokes, while being noticeably evident on the canvas, tend to follow the shapes of the objects.

Paul Cézanne employed innovative ideas in his art including multiple points of view, the use of tectonic facture, and the creation of drama between objects through color. In his painting of Still Life with Plaster Cupid he achieves all three of these ideas. With the ambiguous perspective he was the most successful.

Bibliography

Cézanne, Paul. "Still Life with Plaster Cupid." 1895. Online image. WebMuseum, Paris. 19 Sep. 2002. 13 Nov. 2005. .

Eisenman, Stephen F. “Nineteenth Century Art: The Failure and Success of Cézanne.” Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1994. 337 - 350

Russell, Heather. “Cézanne 1860-1910.” AR 212 History of Western Art III. Colorado State University, CO. 11 Oct. 2005.