Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne was French painter, the leading figure in the revolution toward abstraction in modern painting. His influence on the course of modern art, particularly on the development of cubism, is enormous and deep. In his early career, he was strongly influenced by Delacroix and Courbet. Through Pissarro, he came to know Manet and the Impressionist painters, but rejected what he considered the Impressionists' lack of structure, declaring that he will make impressionism into "something solid and durable, like the art of museums." Cezanne sought to "recreate nature" by simplifying forms to their basic geometric equivalents. Instead of adhering to the traditional system of perspective, he portrayed objects from shifting viewpoints. He worked in oil, watercolour, and drawing media, often making several versions of his works. Since 1890, his complex painting has influenced nearly every avant-garde movement in painting.