Cezanne Mission Accomplished

Yesterday, I was finally able to check off the most important task on my to-do list: The Cezanne and Beyond Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Of course, as always, getting there isn’t the easiest job for me. Driving through traffic on a Saturday afternoon and managing to locate parking within a miles radius in the city isn’t the least bit exciting for me, especially with a million different tasks to handle beforehand. Finally, after some $15 and change spent to park throughout the city all day, I put the CamryMobile to rest and settled for the traditional method of transportation.

Contrary to popular belief, The Rocky Steps is a cake walk.

This is where my point-and-shoot skills are forbidden.

The exhibit included about 50 works from the great artist, Paul Cezanne, and featured 100+ works from various Modern and Contemporary artists. The exhibit went in-depth into the works of Cezanne as well as the works of those great artists that came after him and were inspired by his work. How could some artists that have created movements and continued to inspire generations of artists to come, such as Henry Matisse, Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Ellsworth Kelly, and Piet Mondrian to name a few, would even be put in a pool of recognizable artist that would study Cezanne’s work religiously? Easy…Cezanne understood how to create lines, shapes, and colors in order to capture the feelings he wanted to express in his paintings. The agreement to some might not be evident, but to many artists he is considered as “the greatest artist.”

Left: Paul Cezanne – Madame Cezanne in a Red Armchair (1877)
Right: Henri Matisse -  Woman in Blue (1937)

Left: Paul Cezanne – The Large Bathers (1906)
Right: Pablo Picasso – The Bathers (1956)

Left: Paul Cezanne – The Bather (1885-87)
Right: Marsden Hartley – Canuck Yankee Lumberjack at Old Orchard Beach, Maine (1940-41)

Left: Paul Cezanne – Still Life with Apples (1893)
Right: Ellsworth Kelly – Apples (1949)

Cezanne hasn’t topped my favorite artist list, but has inspired me many ways as a painter. I can’t really explain to much people as to who my favorite artist is. I’ve even disputed with many, but I believe I’ll save that for a much longer post one day. Maybe some more original content next time when I do.

“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.” ~Paul Cezanne