18-19 / 64
After joining the Académie Suisse, Cézanne met Camille
Pissarro, an exciting new artist who would become his
friend and mentor. Pissarro was an Impressionist painter
and encouraged Cézanne to venture out of his dark
surroundings and experience the life and nature that was
on offer to young talented artists. It was Pissarro’s influence
on Cézanne that was to make a huge difference to his
work. While Cézanne still preferred working indoors and
using the darker tones, which he “violently” executed
(Mary Evans/INTERFOTO/Sammlung Rauch)
above:
Cézanne had his work repeatedly refused by the Paris Salon.
on canvas, he was open to trying new techniques and
experimenting with colors. To begin with, Cézanne worked
as student under Pissarro’s tutelage, but over the next 10
years this changed to more of an equal partnership on
joint painting excursions. Cézanne’s first exhibition came
at the Salon des Refusés in 1863, while the Paris Salon
refused his works each and every year between 1864 and
1869. His paintings were considered too controversial, and
were ridiculed by critics and mocked by the public as they
above:
Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne,
probably in Pontoise at Pissarro’s, c. 1875.
(Mary Evans/Epic/PVDE)
above:
Camille Pissarro and his wife Julie Vellay
in 1877.
(Public Domain)
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19
cézanne