Mont Sainte-Victoire (1902 - 1906) by Paul CézanneThe Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
20th century art began, more or less, with a man painting a mountain. Dating from between 1904 to 1906, this iconic landscape approaches art from a new angle. The viewer is invited to explore the complexity of experience, with each thick brush stroke telling its own story.
In the foreground, what looks like a farm or small village nestles amongst the trees.
In the background, a solitary peak dominates the landscape and draws the eye of the viewer. Thick strokes of the artist's brush represent huge crags and ridges, rising toward a sheer peak.
The painting is a classic example of the Post-Impressionism period, using geometry to describe the natural world and colors to emphasize depth. The artist is trying to convey a sense of what lies beneath what we see with the naked eye.
The artist is trying to evoke emotions and "find order in his sensations". He is moulding nature through form and color, rather than simply representing it in a lifelike way.
Have you guessed it?
It is Mont Sainte-Victoire by Paul Cézanne.
Mont Sainte-Victoire (ca. 1902–6) by Paul CézanneThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
But the story doesn't end there...
The painting featured above is just one of more than 30 Cézanne painted of this same landscape over a 20 year period. Here is another of his works, viewing the mountain from the same angle but using different forms and colors to represent different emotions.
Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley (1882–85) by Paul CézanneThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Other views of Mont Sainte-Victoire include this work, called Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Viaduct of the Arc River Valley. It features a view through some trees and is one of Cézanne's earliest pictures of the landscape, dating between 1882 and 1885.
Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from the Bibémus Quarry (c. 1897) by Paul CézanneThe Baltimore Museum of Art
This is the Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from the from the Bibémus Quarry. Another of his earlier works, it dates from between 1892 to 1897, but you can see how his style has changed to a more Expressionist interpretation of the scene.
Mont Sainte-Victoire and Château Noir (c.1904 - c.1906) by Paul CEZANNEArtizon Museum, Ishibashi Foundation
This is a later Mont Sainte-Victoire work. Cézanne grew up near the mountain but was forced to sell the family home in 1899. He later purchased another property just north of Aix which provided another perspective of his beloved mountain.
Mont Sainte-Victoire (1886-1887) by Paul CézanneThe Phillips Collection
If you would like to discover more about the work of Cézanne and other French masters, you can learn more here.
