Paysage aux environs d'Aix-en-Provence by Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne
1839-1906 | French

Paysage aux environs d'Aix-en-Provence
(Landscape near Aix-en-Provence)

Oil on canvas

Paul Cézanne is widely regarded as one of the greatest painters and renegades in modern art. For Cézanne, color was a means to build voluminous forms rather than airy scenes, as evidenced in his most famous subject: landscapes. In this extraordinary early landscape, entitled Paysage aux environs d'Aix-en-Provence, Cézanne's innovative approach to form is on masterful display.

Cézanne frequently retreated from Paris to the tranquility of Aix, and his affection for his home is evident in the beautiful simplicity of this scene. He captures the rolling provincial hills in the height of summer with thick strokes of paint deftly applied with his palette knife, giving the canvas a monumental presence. This solidity of form is a technique that would soon come to define Cézanne’s mature career.

Cézanne portrays Aix as an idyllic, unspoiled landscape, reflecting rural France's intrinsic beauty. The seriousness of the artist’s intention is evident in the deeply verdant grass and trees set against a perfect billowing sky, creating a dramatic scene despite the sunny day’s serenity. The canvas brilliantly showcases Cézanne’s genius—abundant with green and lush texture, his simple yet exceptionally thick application of the paint creates a rich composition that moves beyond the simple representation of nature, just on the cusp of abstraction.

Known as the "father of us all" by luminaries such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, Cézanne's analytical approach to form and structure was profoundly influential, laying the crucial groundwork for Cubism and abstraction to take center stage decades later. Throughout his career, Cézanne maintained relationships with key contemporaries, including Pissarro, Monet and Renoir, yet he always charted his own course, never fully aligning with any one movement.

Born in 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, a quaint town in the south of France, Cézanne had the financial support to pursue his passion for art. Despite his father's initial desire for him to follow a career in law, Cézanne's mother encouraged his artistic inclinations. He began painting in 1860 and moved to Paris shortly thereafter, where he became involved with the Impressionist movement, befriending influential French artists such as Édouard Manet and Camille Pissarro. Although he initially aligned and exhibited with the Impressionists, Cézanne's approach differed significantly. His innovative approach to form and color would eventually lead him to part ways with the group to pursue his distinct artistic vision—ultimately changing the course of modern art forever.

Today, every major museum in the Western world has works by Cézanne in their permanent collections, and important Aix-en-Provence landscapes are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Musée d'Orsay. In February 2024, a previously unknown mural of the Aix landscape was discovered during renovations to Cézanne's home. A total of nine murals, all painted between 1859 and 1869, were transferred to canvases and placed in museums across the globe, including the Petit Palais and Musée d’Orsay, among others. 

Circa 1865

Canvas: 15 1/4" high x 22 7/8" wide (38.74 x 58.10 cm)
Frame: 22 1/2" high x 30 1/4” wide x 3 1/2" deep (57.15 x 76.84 x 8.89 cm)

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Provenance:
Henri Boissin, Aix-en-Provence, a gift of Maxime Conil (the artist's brother-in-law), circa 1885
Mme Lilli Marquetty (née Boissin), by descent from the above
Mme Bachollet (née Marquetty), Paris, by descent from above
Sale, Sotheby's, London, December 1, 1982, lot 8
Insel Hombroich, Germany
Galerie Beyeler, Basel, 1989
Private Collection, USA
Gana Art Gallery, Seoul
Sale, Sotheby's, New York, November 17, 1998, lot 243
Private Collection, Texas
Private Collection
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Exhibited:
London, Royal Academy of Arts; Paris, Musée d'Orsay & Washington, D.C., The National Gallery of Art, Cézanne, The Early Years, 1988-89, no. 11, p. 90-91 (illustrated)

Literature:
“Das Tor zur Moderne. Paul Cezanne in Schweizer Sammlungen,” in Du, vol. 49, no. 9, September 1989, p. 61 (illustrated)
P. Bonafoux, Cezanne, portrait, Paris, 1995, p. 84 (illustrated)
J. Rewald, The Paintings of Paul Cezanne, vol. I, New York, 1996, no. 79, p. 87 (illustrated vol. II, p. 26)
Cezanne en Provence, exh. cat., Musée Granet, Aix-en-Provence, 2006, p. 37 (illustrated fig. 12, p. 36; titled ‘Paysage des environs d’Aix’ and with incorrect ownership)
W. Feilchenfeldt, J. Warman & D. Nash, The Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings of Paul Cezanne: An Online Catalogue Raisonné, no. FWN31 (illustrated)