Monday, May 20, 2013

Studying Cezanne - Going into the Past & Move Forward.

Mont Sainte-Victore from Les Lauves, Paul Cezanne, Oil on canvas (1904-06).


On occasion I've encountered works by early Impressionist, Paul Cezanne, like most people/artists what have you, whether in books or in person, even surfin the net...and always the same to me, blah whatever...somethin that irritates me, when I notice people doin the same to my work, a hypocrite I am..or was!!

Upon visiting The IMA in Indianapolis, IN, I encountered a landscape by Cezanne, and again blah oh well, "but there's gotta be somethin to it.." such a novice way to give this master audience, oh well!  Then I noticed something, a short posthumous statement on the artist:

Somethin on the lines of ...'his late paintings, are works that the founders of abstract painting in the 20th century, continually refer to.'  Which I later found in a book I purchased out of further curiosity.  And boy has it paid off, above I included one of my favorite (later) works of his; and after studying him more in depth, I've come to realize:  

        "its the cross section of the past and the future, then and even now".

To me this particular painting/concept/execution represents a cornerstone, from which I'm sure to base much of my work on in the future, just like many artists before me have built much of their progress from foundations of his entire collection, this is my Plymouth Rock!!!