Post Impressionism, as the name would suggest, is the art movement that directly followed Impressionism. One artist who led the Post Impressionist movement was a French artist named Paul Cézanne. Much of his early work was pure Impressionism and, although he was introduced to the style and guided by Camille Pissarrow, Cézanne's works showed a distinctive uniqueness. Unfortunately, Cézanne had to struggle to get recognized by many of the painters in his day because of his uniqueness.
Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Province, a small town south of France, on January 19.1839. As a young boy, Cézanne did not dream of becoming a world famous painter. He had passion for his poetry and his friends (Hansen 16). One major obstacle he was forced to overcome was his father. He did not have a typical relationship with his father. His father worked hard all of his life to improve his family's life and finances, and one day he was presented with an opportunity to open his own business. After starting his own bank, he became a very wealthy man (12). To make up for his hard life, he had high expectations for his son Paul. He wanted Paul to go to school, study law, and someday become a lawyer. This is the path that his father had paved for him. Cézanne's father would never fully accept the notion of his son becoming an artist. Although, ironically enough, as a child his father was the first person to introduce him to painting. Cézanne's father had received a paintbox from a peddler thinking it was of no value to him. So he took home the paintbox and gave it to Paul. In any event, it was said that from then on Paul would copy anything he could get his hands on, especially the illustrations in the magazines (Lindsay 10).
Throughout Paul's childhood, he made one very significant friend who would become a future novelist; his name was Emile Zola.