Paul Cézanne (1839 - 1906)
Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence; his father became a wealthy banker. After dropping out of law school, arrived
in Paris in 1861 and wanted to becom a painter, he did not succeed in entering the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Cézanne and
Emile Zola were friends. In 1872 he was exposed by Pissarro to the Impressionist technique and outlook; two years later
he took part in the Impressionists' first group exhibition. In 1877 at the third exhibition, it was his work that especially
aroused the critics' indignation and fury. Under the pressure of many attacks, he withdrew from society and concentrated on
his work; after 1886 he lived principally in his native town of Aix. A great commemorative exhibition of his work in 1907
had a lasting influence on twentieth-century art: it gave birth to cubism.
