Still Life with Apples
Paul Cézanne
PAUL CEZANNE, c.1878. OIL ON CANVAS.
Cézanne wanted to conquer Paris with an apple. Using the simplest of objects, he created a new vernacular of painting. If the work looks beautiful but not revolutionary today, that is because Cézanne succeeded in his mission. In fact, in this simple depiction of seven apples, so many of Cézanne’s groundbreaking ideas and techniques are on show. Multiple perspectives, geometric reduction, visible, almost emphasised, brushstrokes and a modulation of colour. Using an apple, Cézanne broke every rule available. Using an apple, Cézanne did in fact conquer Paris. “He is the father of us all”, said Picasso and Matisse, and in that sense he became the father of modernity.