Melissa Arnold, 19, paints a still life in the style of Cezanne. (Photo by Nicholas Boerlin) If you want to see a unique collection of one of the world’s greatest artists, you better hurry up.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently exhibiting the work of French painter Paul Cézanne, along with 18 other artists influenced by the painter’s work, through May 31.
The exhibit, titled “Cézanne and Beyond,” showcases 150 paintings, drawings, and sculptures donated from public and private European and American collections, including 60 by Cézanne, and others by artists such as Henry Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Jasper Johns.
Works inspired by Cézanne are placed side by side with Cézanne’s original work to show the direct influence of his work and how many emulated his innovative techniques and philosophies towards painting.
Of Cézanne, Pablo Picasso said, “[Cézanne] is my one and only master!”
Cézanne influenced so many artists because he challenged classical conventions on what painting meant and the techniques artists could utilize, said Bertha Gutman, associate professor of art and art history at DCCC.
“Paul Cézanne is to me the greatest teacher on how to create a painting,” Gutman said.
As part of her curriculum, Gutman assigned her students the task of creating their “own Cézannes” by mimicking the techniques used in his work.
“What is great about this project is that I get to tell my students to break the rules on everything I’ve taught them so far,” Gutman said.
Gutman’s students spent two weeks interpreting Cézanne’s ideas and work in addition to studying his life and its impact on modern art.
Born in 1878, Paul Cézanne was raised in Aix-en-Provence, a small town in southern France. The mountains and countryside surrounding his hometown often served as a subject for his paintings.
In fact, Cézanne spent most of his life painting in Aix-en-Provence, making it the official capital for his work. However, in the century since Cézanne’s death, a great portion of his work has migrated to Philadelphia.
According to the Museum of Art, as of April 1, an estimated 134,000 tickets have been issued to visitors from 39 states and more than a dozen countries.
Beyond the exhibit, the museum is offering several programs to the public, including concerts, art classes, and fine dining inspired by Cézanne’s art.
A lecture series will also run through April, featuring speakers from several universities and the museum staff, which includes Joseph Rishel the exhibition organizer and Curator of European Painting.
“Our purpose is first to display the continuing vitality of Cézanne as an artistic resource five generations on,” said Rishel in a press release. “Of equal importance in our endeavor is to illustrate the unfolding reality that a different Cézanne has evolved for each generation, defined by what artists have made of him and passed along to those who came after. It is a continuing story.”
A fellow appreciator of Cézanne’s work, Gutman emphasizes his impact on the art world to her students.
“Cézanne is nick-named ‘the grandfather of modern art, and I believe rightly so,” she said. “Without Cézanne, we would not have Cubism and all of the 20th Century modern art.”
Many of Gutman’s students approached the project hesitantly, she said, but still made great progress.
“It is different to be more free with the brush and take risks, which is not what I do,” said Stephanie Russel, 22, a liberal arts major. “It is different and all new.”
Melissa Arnold, 19, also a liberal arts major, agreed with Russel that the paintings are an interesting challenge.
“We are changing the rules, but to me this is finding something out about yourself, using his techniques but incorporating yourself,” said Arnold. “Just letting it happen, the brushstrokes doing the work, is a lot more fun.”
