Art Reflection: Cezanne

Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) was a French painter of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist movements. He is often referred to as the Father of Modern Art. Picasso is quoted as saying Cezanne was his one and only master.

Cezanne’s body of work includes portraits, landscapes and the remarkable still lifes. He arranged objects of everyday life and painted the details and beauty hidden in the ordinary. His detailed arrangements often included fabric, fruit, and glassware. His repetitive brushstrokes and color modulations add a depth and elegance to these works. Whether we look at the whole composition or focus on a small area, we can be moved into Cezanne’s extravagant style and maybe never see a piece of fruit or a glass or a tablecloth in the same way.

These pieces also bring us peace in their busyness. Even with all of his technique’s movement, his patterns, and his color variations, Cezanne captured the stillness of objects that surround us and invites us to sit a while and just look, truly look, at things to which we may now be blind.

The work of this master seems so countercultural. Why would you carefully arrange common things and paint the scene for hours, devoted to all of the surfaces and shapes? Maybe each painting came from the spirit and was actually a spiritual practice. Maybe each of the many similar still life paintings by Cezanne was a statement of gratitude for the beauty of the natural and man-made worlds. He and we also can honor and give thanks for our abundance with the attention art requires. We can notice and we might even draw or paint what we see! Why don’t we try?!? 

Thanks be to God and Amen.

In gratitude, faith and hope,

Sandy Prouty
Minister of Children and Families
Montview Church