Château Noir

After settling in Aix, France, in 1899, Cézanne ventured daily into the surrounding Provençal landscape in search of subjects to paint. The Château Noir, a recently constructed neo-Gothic castle designed to mimic aged ruins, captivated him. He repeatedly represented this structure and also painted from its grounds, where he had an unobstructed view of nearby Mont Sainte-Victoire, another favored subject. As is typical of landscapes executed late in his career, Cézanne applied thick paint in broad, multihued swatches. This painting once belonged to Claude Monet and hung in his bedroom in Giverny.