Paul Cezanne
1839-1906 · French (Aix-en-Provence) · Post-Impressionism
Known for: The father of modern art who painted apples so revolutionary that Picasso and Matisse built entire movements on them
Cezanne sought to 'treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone' - reducing the world to geometric essentials and laying the foundation for Cubism. Matisse and Picasso both called him 'the father of us all.'
He was painfully shy, destroyed canvases in rages, alienated his closest friend Zola, and lived as a recluse in Provence for decades painting Mont Sainte-Victoire and apples hundreds of times. Recognized only late in life.
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