How Visiting Cezanne’s Studio Changed My Perspective on His Art

A few weeks ago, I visited Paul Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. It was an intense encounter: to be surrounded by the palettes, easels, brushes, props, and even clothing of the famous artist, all of them arrayed around the four edges of the room, seemingly ready to pick up and use again. To be honest, up until this point I’d often found Cézanne’s art a bit austere, without the light-filled ebullience of his Impressionist peers. Yet coming to the place where he painted and lived — the town of Aix-en-Provence as much as his studio — permitted me a glimpse into the crucial intersection between his art, his geography and his life. What surprised me was that I now see his paintings completely differently. Here’s why. <h1>The Studio and Mountain</h1> In November 1901, when Cézanne was 63 years old, he bought a small country property for 2,000 francs, just a ten minute walk north from the old town of Aix-en-Provence. (“Aix” is pronounced like the letter X). It is elevated on a hillside, these days surrounded mostly by suburban buildings, but in Cézanne’s day it would have stood alone among olive and fig trees. <a href="https://christopherpjones.medium.com/why-visiting-cezannes-studio-changed-my-perspective-on-his-art-e6d4cfd4265a">Read More</a>