View of Auvers

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View of Auvers: Paul Cezanne

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Paul Cezanne Oil Painting - View of Auvers

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Work Overview: View of Auvers
Paul Cezanne
Date: 1873
Style: Impressionism
Period: Impressionist period
Genre: landscape
Media: oil, canvas
Dimensions: 80 x 65 cm
Location: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, US

On December 31, 1999, during the fireworks that accompanied the celebration of the millennium, a thief broke into the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England and stole Cezanne’s landscape painting View of Auvers-sur-Oise. Valued at £3 million, the painting has been described as an important work illustrating the transition from early to mature Cezanne painting.

View of Auvers sur Oise was created between 1873 and 1875 and is admired for its wide open spaces and swirling green colors. The work was produced during a time of change in Cézanne's career, when he was experimenting with his color palette beyond his usual tempestuous dark choices.

View of Auvers sur Oise was painted when Cézanne was staying with his good friend Dr Paul Gachet in the 1870s. The two had met in Pontoise where Paul Cézanne was living with his mistress and future wife, Hortense Fiquet, and his newborn son Paul. Dr. Gachet was a big admirer of Cézanne's works and recognized his potential.

Consequently the doctor invited the artist to come and stay at his house and paint the surrounding landscapes.

Cézanne obliged and began painting alongside his good friend Camille Pissarro, an Impressionst. Cézanne was encouraged to use lighter colors when working on this piece. yet, rather than create a swirling, bright, impression of nature Cézanne believed that nature should be shown as accurately as possible.

For Cezanne, there was no one way to view subject matter because objects were constantly in flux. For example every time that Paul Cézanne sat down to paint View of Auvers sur Oise he copied whatever he saw at that time rather than finish what he had seen the first time he looked at the landscape.

Additionally, Cézanne believed that it was possible to analyze and break nature down into small shapes. Thus, he looked at the panoramic landscape and houses as a group of shapes that, when placed on the canvas, would create an accurate representation of what he saw.

It was difficult for Cézanne to finish a piece like View of Auvers sur Oise because it took him an extraordinarily long time to finish a painting. He was a slow worker and when painting a landscape, a great deal would have changed between what he saw at the beginning of his painting process and the end.

Furthermore he often chose to paint his landscapes from difficult to reach vistas that were not easily accessible with his painting gear.

Consequently, Cézanne did not finish View of Auvers sur Oise, which is obvious because the piece has never been signed or dated.

omposition:
The center space of View of Auvers sur Oise is dominated by block houses that stretch across the rolling landscape. Whereas the houses in the forefront of the image have been painted with intricate detail, those in the background are simple rectangles and squares with distinctive colors distinguishing the walls and roofs.

The rolling hills stretch out into the horizon and appear almost flat. Although they take up almost one third of the canvas, they do not arrest the viewers' attention.

The trees in the foreground are attention grabbing due to their bright colors, and the fact that they encroach onto the houses' space. The lofty tree that stands tall in the center of the scene gives the impression that the trees and the hills meet, as though there is almost no village sat in the middle of the composition.

Color palette:
Cézanne used swirling green, yellow and grey shades and the buttercup yellow tones of the leaves and the mint green shades of the grass lend themselves to a sunny day.

In contrast the sky is a tumulus dark grey tone, created with dirty blues and murky whites.

Use of light:
The painting is brightly lit in the foreground with sunny yellows and vibrant green shades. Also the orange and red rooftops add to the bright scene. Yet, despite the peaceful tone of the painting there is a threat of a storm on the horizon because of the grey skies in the background, threatening to ruin the calm of the day.

Brush stroke:
The brush strokes of View of Auvers sur Oiseare rough and hurried. Cézanne liked to use a large brush with perceptible brush strokes that are obvious to the viewer. Such a technique leaves the piece with an unpolished quality, which is why Paul Cézanne frequently had his work refused entry into the Salon's exhibitions.

Copyright Statement:
All the reproduction of any forms about this work unauthorized by Singing Palette including images, texts and so on will be deemed to be violating the Copyright Laws.
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Paul Cezanne

Work Overview