Paul Cézanne: The Father of Modern Art
Matthew Palczynski, Ph.D., is an art history lecturer, consultant, and educator, focusing on vanguard art after around 1850. He presents talks online and globally for academic, corporate, and nonprofit organizations. His presentations have included those for Renaissance Weekend, Stanford University, Princeton University’s James Madison Program, The Wharton School, National Gallery of Art, and United Airlines. He is an Adjunct Senior Instructor at The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, and has taught at the Tyler School of Art (Temple University) since 2004.
Overview
Paul Cézanne is among the most celebrated painters in the canon. As Henri Matisse noted: “In modern art, it is undoubtedly to Cézanne that I owe the most.” With his portraits, still-lives, and landscapes, he sought to – as he famously quipped – “treat nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere, the cone.” Cézanne’s work bridged the gap between Impressionism and the pioneering developments in the School of Paris during the first decade of the 20th century. Discover why Pablo Picasso believed he was “the father of us all,” and how his remarkable paintings had such a profound impact on generations of artists.
Recommended Reading:
Cézanne and Beyond, ex. cat., Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2009
Cézanne: A Life, by Alex Danchev
The Letters of Paul Cézanne, by Alex Danchev
Discussion Questions:
1. In which ways was Cézanne an innovator?
2. How did Picasso, Matisse, and other artists respond to his work?
3. What are some of Cézanne’s most important works?