At first, Cézanne is influenced by Impressionism, but eventually finds it too vague and superficial. He searches for a more solid base and finds it in nature. According to him all natural forms are built from three archetypal ones: the sphere, the cylinder and the cone. Yet he does not use the form as a starting point, but colour. ‘Nature – I wanted to copy it, but could not’, he confesses to a friend. ‘But I felt satisfied about myself when I discovered that you cannot depict the sun, you have to depict her with something else… with colour.’
Press A for more information on the painting, press B for more information on Cézanne’s style.