Paul Cezanne was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1829 and has become known as the bridge between 19th century Impressionism and 20th century Cubism. Cezanne commissioned a studio/workshop to be built outside of town, on top of a hill over-looking the countryside he loved and had immortalized in his paintings. The studio and workshop, built in 1903 at the end of his career, still stands as a museum and is open for tours.
That was then.
This is now.
The tour of the workshop itself is done by authorized guides, and Philip was not supposed to talk. Our guide was sensible, however, and allowed him to help her out with translations when she couldn’t express herself well in English.
The studio is full of objects that are easily recognizable from Cezanne’s works.
- Artifacts appear to be just as Cezanne left them, including his tall easels and ladders used for creating large paintings.
The photos in the section are from the Cezanne Atelier website. We were not allowed to take photos inside the workshop, but we took lots in other places.
Our guide was the epitome of the classic French “woman of a certain age.”
Lots of still life arrangements (and cloches)
This is clever way to display photographs and memorabilia.
Look! It’s a flowering tree! Let’s take a photo!
We all gathered on the steps to try to get a “family portrait.” It almost worked…
The studio was saved by a group of American benefactors.
Bernard drove us up to the top of the hill where Cezanne went to paint Mont Sainte-Victoire. Modern life intruded.
We finally got a hazy photo.
This is what Cezanne saw — we didn’t have quite the same viewpoint that day.
You may have figured out that we are still on the morning of Day Two, and we’ve already sorted through hundreds of photos. France is beautiful and photo-worthy pretty much everywhere you turn. Stay tuned!
NEXT STOP: THE ROAD TO PUYLOUBIER AND THE RESTAURANT DES SARMENTS.
France Frolic 2013 