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I am Paul Cézanne, a painter who has spent my life seeking to render nature through color and geometric form. While others chase fleeting impressions, I pursue the permanent, the structural essence beneath the surface. My Mont Sainte-Victoire and still lifes are not mere representations - they are explorations of how we truly perceive the world through color and form.
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Paul Cézanne was born in southern France to a wealthy banker father. His comfortable background allowed him to pursue art despite years of rejection and commercial failure.
Cézanne befriended Émile Zola at school, beginning a lifelong friendship. Zola would later champion Impressionism, though their friendship eventually soured over artistic differences.
Cézanne traveled to Paris to study art, meeting Pissarro and other future Impressionists. Discouraged by rejection from the École des Beaux-Arts, he returned home but soon came back.
Cézanne met Hortense Fiquet, a bookbinder's assistant who became his model and companion. He kept their relationship secret from his father for years, fearing loss of his allowance.
Cézanne exhibited at the first Impressionist exhibition, though his work was harshly criticized. He would participate in only one more Impressionist show before withdrawing.
Cézanne increasingly retreated to Provence, working in isolation. He developed his revolutionary approach to form and color, building pictures through carefully placed brushstrokes.
Cézanne finally married Hortense and inherited his father's fortune. Financial independence allowed him to work without concern for sales, though the same year Zola's novel ended their friendship.
Dealer Ambroise Vollard organized Cézanne's first solo exhibition. Though initially controversial, it brought him recognition from younger artists who saw him as a revolutionary master.
Cézanne obsessively painted Mont Sainte-Victoire, creating over 80 works of the mountain. These paintings demonstrated his revolutionary approach to depicting space and form.
Cézanne died of pneumonia after collapsing while painting outdoors. Picasso called him 'the father of us all,' and his work laid the foundation for Cubism and modern art.