Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was the essential bridge between 19th-century Impressionism and 20th-century Modernism. Working in stubborn, deliberate isolation in his native Provence, Cézanne resolved 'to make of Impressionism something solid and durable, like the art of the museums.'

Instead of fleeting atmospheric impressions, Cézanne constructed permanent geometric form through 'modulations' of juxtaposed color planes. He famously advised to 'treat nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere, the cone.' In his obsessive series of Mont Sainte-Victoire, his still lifes with apples and tilted tables, and The Card Players, Cézanne broke with single-point perspective, presenting multiple viewpoints simultaneously and opening the direct pathway to Cubism.