Organised in cooperation with the Petit Palais and the Musée des Beaux-Arts (fine arts museum) of the City of Paris, the Cézanne et Paris exhibition will showcase 80 major works of the artist, now acknowledged to be the precursor of Modern Art.

Cézanne dreamed of nothing but painting…

Paul Cézanne received a solid classical education in Aix en Provence; Emile Zola counted him amongst his friends at secondary school. While his father intended him to be a lawyer, Cézanne dreamed of nothing but painting. In the Spring of 1861, he left for Paris for the first time. While attending the Académie Suisse, he got to know Pissarro and Guillaumin. However, after failing the entrance exam to the Beaux Arts (Fine Arts school), he was forced to return to Aix and work in his father’s bank.

Yet Cézanne could not forget painting. A year later he returned to Paris and re-enrolled for the Académie Suisse. From then on, he alternated between visiting Paris and returning to Aix en Provence, his home town.

AIn Paris, he regularly visited the Louvre, making sketches and copying the paintings of the masters. Cézanne met Renoir, Monet, Sisley… Later his friend Zola, who encouraged him and also helped him financially, presented him to Manet. Paris inspired Cézanne, it brought him face to face with modernity as much as tradition.

It was only at the end of the 1870′s that Cézanne asserted himself with his personal painting style. His works only became of interest to critics, the art market and collectors after 1890.

Cézanne et Paris, Musée du Luxembourg, Paris

This beautiful exhibition illustrates the themes dear to Cézanne during his visits to Paris: views of the capital, landscapes in Ile de France, but also nudes, still life and portraits. The works on show have come from around the world, some are exceptional loans made by the Musée d’Orsay.

The exhibition in the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris, runs from October 12 to February 16 2012.

Musée du Luxembourg :

• 19 rue de Vaugirard, 75006 Paris
• Opening hours :
  • 9h – 22h, from Friday to Monday
  • 10h – 20h, from Tuesday to Thursday.
• Access : Metro line 4, St Sulpice or Mabillon Stations
• For further information: Cézanne et Paris exhibition.

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