Customer Reviews

Cezanne

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Picasso, speaking about modern art and artists, referred to Cezanne as "the father of us all." He was that rare artist whose vision -and ability to express it- was so keen and unique that it can actually impact the way we se the world around us. (How often I look into the trees and think "that looks like a Cezanne.") More than any other book of his work this volume succeeds in showing the sweep and depth of Cezanne's genius. The reproductions are superb and plentiful. The descriptive text accompanying each image, while interesting, needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as is often the case in catalogues of this nature. But the truth is I buy art books for the pictures! For text, try Rewald's book which is also excellent and contains some paintings not elsewhere printed, and deals extensively with the relationship between Cezanne and Zola. I also recommend Gotz Adriani's book on Cezanne. But if you can only have one, this is it.

The clumsy, poorly written text in the first few chapters is almost impossible to read. Since it's so disjointed and quotes too much from Cezanne's personal letters or from other writings, I skipped over a large portion of this. I was also surprised that the authors tried to make Cezanne into some sort of religious deity, rather than a master of his art; it could be marketing hype accompanying the show, but Cezanne's work speaks for itself. In spite of these flaws, the painting and sketches are wonderfully reproduced, and the accompanying description is pretty good. But because the accompanying description is always laudatory and doesn't adequately talk about his mistakes, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between Cezanne's masterpieces and his OK work. The best part is learning what other artist, such as Monet and Matisse, owned what Cezanne painting (and then trying to speculate on why they liked a painting so much).

This is a must for art lovers, in general, and for 19th cent. french art lovers, specifically. Rich in colour images and a detailed editorial on each piece. Also gives the history of ownership.

Absolutely wonderful. A must.

Assembled to accompany a major retrospective of the artist's work, "Cezanne," by four art scholars and curators, includes 258 large color plates and 350 black-and-white pictures of paintings, drawings and sketches, organized by chronological period.

Each gorgeous plate is accompanied by the work's provenance and exhibitions. Accompanying text describes the painting's personal and historical context as well as critical responses at the time and through the years.

The book also includes quotes from Cezanne on art and two lengthy, thoughtful essays on "A Century of Cezanne Criticism."

A volume which will afford hours and years of pleasure to anyone interested in Cezanne's art.