Quarry at Bibémus (Carrière de Bibémus)

In the last decade of his life, Cézanne worked at the sandstone quarry of Bibémus, in the southern French region of Provence where he was born. The quarry had been abandoned for some 60 years and was by then overgrown with large pine trees. Here, Cézanne explored the interplay between the complementary colors of the central orange rock and the blues of the sky and shadows. His signature technique of ordered, parallel strokes of paint is particularly evident in the luminous greens of the encircling foliage. Cézanne's pioneering interest in complex surface pattern looks forward to Cubism.