Isabella Flores
Paul Cézanne painted Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France, numerous times throughout his career. The mountain, which overlooks Aix-en-Provence, the artist's hometown, became a source of inspiration for Cézanne, who is said to have painted it over thirty times, with some sources claiming he painted it over sixty times. Cézanne's paintings of the mountain range are divided into two periods: his period of synthesis from the 1870s to 1895, and his late period from 1895 until his death in 1906.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of paintings | About 30 paintings and watercolors |
| Vantage points | Near his brother's property in Bellevue, near Bibemus quarry, and in Les Lauves |
| Periods | "Period of synthesis" from the 1870s to 1895, and his late period from 1895 until his death in 1906 |
| Techniques | Oil paints, watercolors, constructive stroke, flat-depth |
| Inspiration | Cézanne was fascinated by the mountain's rugged architectural forms and the changing views offered by different light and angles |
| Location | Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a mountain overlooking Aix-en-Provence in southern France |
| Height | 3317 feet (1011 meters) |
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What You'll Learn
Cézanne's obsession with Montagne Sainte-Victoire
Paul Cézanne's Montagne Sainte-Victoire was a lifelong artistic obsession. Cézanne painted the mountain on numerous occasions, more than 30 times during his career, with some sources claiming he painted it over 80 times. He explored the countryside around Aix-en-Provence, first during his youth and later as an artist in search of motifs.
Cézanne's paintings of Montagne Sainte-Victoire fell into two main periods: those he executed during his so-called "period of synthesis," from roughly the 1870s to 1895, and those he created during his late period, from around 1895 until his death in 1906. During the first period, Cézanne included the mountain in a landscape called The Railway Cutting, 1870 (Neue Pinakothek, Munich). A few years later, it appeared behind the monumental figures in Bathers at Rest, 1876-77 (The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia). In the late 1890s, he climbed to the top of the mountain, and in 1901, he bought an acre of land on the hill of Les Lauves, just north of Aix, and built a studio there in 1902. This is where he completed most of his late-period paintings.
Cézanne used three primary vantage points for these paintings: near his brother's property in Bellevue, near Bibemus quarry, and in Les Lauves. His scenes generally included Mont Sainte-Victoire itself, a grey-white limestone mountain with abrupt shapes and sharp peaks, and the surrounding valley and plains that the mountain rose from. Cézanne would return to the motif of Mont Sainte-Victoire throughout his career, resulting in an incredibly varied series of works. They show the mountain from many different points of view and often in relation to a constantly changing cast of other elements, such as foreground trees and bushes, buildings and bridges, fields and quarries.
Cézanne's paintings of Montagne Sainte-Victoire have become an icon of modern art, representing the quest for artistic truth and freedom of expression. They display "powerful geometric reductiveness," foreshadowing cubism and abstraction. Through his paintings, Cézanne erected the mountain to the rank of a wonder of the world.
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His varied approach to painting the mountain
Paul Cézanne painted Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France, numerous times—over thirty, by some accounts, and perhaps even over sixty, according to others. The mountain became one of Cézanne's most repeated and varied themes, with the artist changing something about the scene each time, from his angle to the lighting to the compositional specifics to the mood he tried to evoke.
Cézanne's paintings of the mountain are generally divided into two periods: his period of "synthesis" from the 1870s to 1895, and his late period from around 1895 until his death in 1906. During the first period, Cézanne's paintings showed an increasing emphasis on mass and structure, and he developed a system of parallel brushstrokes, known as his "constructive stroke". He also used wet-into-wet and wet-over-dry oil painting techniques, suggesting that he worked quickly in some areas and took more time in others.
In the late 1870s, Cézanne began to tropicalize the mountain in his paintings, marking the beginning of his Post-Impressionist period. He used geometry to describe nature and different colours to represent the depth of objects. He generally tried to convey the interior structure of the landscape before him, rather than its ephemeral surface features. Cézanne's interest in the interior structure of the landscape is also reflected in his use of watercolour to experiment with form and structure, creating a wide range of effects through transparent planes of colour and strokes of pencil.
Cézanne's late period paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire were created from sites near his last studio, which he built in 1902 on a hillside road across the valley from the mountain. These paintings often took years to complete, and the artist sought to capture the mountain outside of a specific time, season, or weather condition. They also reflected his interest in the relationships between colour, form, and emotion, as well as his anti-establishment stance and desire to express his own response to nature.
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The mountain's significance to Cézanne
Paul Cézanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France, overlooking Aix-en-Provence, his hometown, about thirty times. Cézanne's paintings of the mountain were executed in two main periods: the first, from the 1870s to 1895, and the second, from around 1895 until his death in 1906.
The mountain held significant meaning for Cézanne. It embodied nature's grandeur and enduring nature. Cézanne believed that each new painting of Mont Sainte-Victoire would reveal a new insight into "another facet of its meaning or character". The mountain, therefore, assumed an abstract, elusive appeal in his eyes.
Cézanne's interest in the mountain can be traced back to his many explorations of the countryside around Aix-en-Provence. He had climbed to the top of the mountain by 1895 and would have been able to estimate the distance from Les Lauves to its summit. This experience of standing atop the mountain may have influenced his subsequent paintings of it.
Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire were created from three primary vantage points: near his brother's property in Bellevue, near Bibemus quarry, and in Les Lauves. The mountain itself, a grey-white limestone peak, and the surrounding valley and plains that it rose from, were all integral components of his scenes.
Cézanne's works from the late period, created from his vantage point in Les Lauves, where he had built a studio, depict the mountain with a heightened lyricism and a consistent viewpoint. These paintings, executed in the final years of his life, demonstrate a deep understanding of the subject, as he returned to it repeatedly, accumulating new insights and interpretations over time.
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Cézanne's painting techniques
Paul Cézanne was a French Post-Impressionist painter whose works influenced the development of many 20th-century art movements, especially Cubism. Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France overlooking Aix-en-Provence, numbered about thirty paintings and watercolours. This series of works is an excellent example of Cézanne's painting techniques.
Cézanne's paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire fell into two main periods: his "period of synthesis" from the 1870s to 1895, and his late period from around 1895 until his death in 1906. During these periods, Cézanne painted in both watercolour and oil paints to capture Mont Sainte-Victoire with transparency and lightness. He used geometry to describe nature and different colours to represent the depth of objects, emphasising the underlying structure of the landscape rather than its surface features. Cézanne's works often featured a clear pictorial balance and geometric shapes, resulting in timeless paintings that did not reflect a specific time of day, season, or weather condition.
Cézanne's technique involved creating intricate patchworks of colour, balanced with energetic, stabby brushstrokes. He often used a dry brush with a scrubbing action, working in mid and dark tones first and adding light tones later. He premixed colours before starting a painting, holding the palette knife up to the subject to check accuracy under the correct lighting conditions. Cézanne also used wet-into-wet and wet-over-dry oil painting techniques, suggesting he worked quickly in some areas and took more time in others.
Cézanne's unique approach to his Mont Sainte-Victoire series demonstrates his dedication to capturing the essence of his subject. Unlike Impressionists, who aimed to depict nature as they saw it, Cézanne returned to the mountain repeatedly, accumulating a deep understanding of it. He explored the mountain from various viewpoints, changing angles, lighting, compositional specifics, and mood with each painting. This iterative process allowed him to convey a sense of what lay beneath the surface, capturing the enduring nature and grandeur of Mont Sainte-Victoire.
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The influence of Montagne Sainte-Victoire on Cézanne's later work
Paul Cézanne painted Montagne Sainte-Victoire, a mountain in southern France, overlooking Aix-en-Provence, numerous times throughout his career. Cézanne's work on these paintings spanned different periods, techniques, and styles, and the mountain became one of his most repeated and varied themes. The influence of Montagne Sainte-Victoire on Cézanne's later work is evident in several ways.
Firstly, the mountain became a source of inspiration and a motif that Cézanne returned to repeatedly, even in the last years of his life. This dedication to a single subject over an extended period of time was a departure from the typical Impressionist approach of completing paintings on-site and rapidly. Cézanne's persistence in capturing the mountain demonstrates his extraordinary patience and self-discipline as an artist.
Secondly, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire series showcases Cézanne's evolving style and technique. As he developed his artistic approach, his canvases transitioned from those covered entirely in tightly controlled parallel brushstrokes to those that allowed the primed white of the canvas to show through. This evolution can be observed in his Montagne Sainte-Victoire paintings, with some works appearing unfinished, reflecting the increasing difficulties he faced due to his advancing age.
Thirdly, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire paintings embody Cézanne's interest in both the past and the present, in tradition and innovation. While he studied and painted directly from nature, aligning him with Impressionists like Claude Monet, Cézanne also explored the interior structure of the landscape, distorting the forms of the mountain to create clear geometric shapes and pictorial balance. This approach to geometry and the use of different colours to represent the depth of objects reflect his departure from Impressionist naturalism towards a Post-Impressionist, Symbolist aesthetic.
Finally, the Montagne Sainte-Victoire series offers insight into Cézanne's artistic philosophy and his views on nature and its depiction. He believed that each new painting of the mountain would reveal another facet of its meaning or character, and he sought to convey the eternal, interior structure of the scene rather than focusing solely on ephemeral surface features. This pursuit of understanding and capturing the enduring nature of the mountain through repeated painting influenced his later work, as he continued to explore the relationship between surface and depth, plane and colour, and the tension between order and emotion.
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Frequently asked questions
Cezanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire over thirty times, with some sources claiming he painted the mountain over sixty times.
Cezanne painted Mont Sainte-Victoire from the 1870s until his death in 1906. His paintings of the mountain can be divided into two periods: his "period of synthesis" from the 1870s to 1895, and his late period from 1895 until 1906.
Cezanne was fascinated by the geometric form of the mountain and the changing views offered by different light and angles. He believed each new painting would offer a new insight into "another facet of its meaning or character".
