9781422285343

CÉZANNE

“Nabi” movement – he was one of the first artists to paint in a flat style and chose, like Cézanne, to interpret nature in his own way rather than copying it. Charles Camoin, it is cited, was in awe of Cézanne, while Matisse and Pablo Picasso are known to have taken influences from him. His use of still life as subject matter revolutionized the industry, and Apples and Oranges , with its tendency toward the abstract and its distortion of the plane, is said to have influenced both Picasso and Georges Braque to invent the Cubism movement. In addition to an exhibition held in 1907, Cézanne’s recognition and fame were assured by Roger Fry, who held the seminal exhibition of Post-Impressionist works at the Grafton Galleries in London. It was Fry who coined the phrase Post-Impressionism, in order to give Cézanne’s works some distinction from those of the Impressionists. The commercial success of the exhibition, combined with Fry’s observations and writings, surely cemented Cézanne’s place and legacy as the “Father of Modernism.”

 RIGHT:  Art critic Roger Fry.  BELOW:  Self-portrait (1916) of the painter Maurice Denis, in the Vasari Corridor. His family are in the background.

(PA Photos)

(Finsiel/Alinari Archives – Reproduced with the permission of Ministero per i Beni e le Attivit… Cult)

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