Paul Cezanne was a French painter who was often called the father of modem art. Cezanne strove to develop and ideal synthesis of naturalistic representation, personal expression, and abstract order.
Cezanne perhaps had the most profound effect on the art of the 20th century more than any other artists of his time. He was the greatest single influence on both the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and the French artist Henri Matisse. Matisse adorned his use of color, while Picasso developed Cezanne's planar compositional structure into the cubist style. Cezanne was largely ignored; however, during the greatest part of his own lifetime, and he worked in isolation. He very seldom exhibited and had few friends. Cezanne did not trust critics. He alienated himself from his own family, who seemed to have no appreciation for his work.
Paul Cezanne was born in the southern French town of Aix-en-Provence, January 19,1839. He was the son of a very wealthy banker. In 1862, after many family disputes, the artist was given a small allowance by his lather and was sent to Paris to study art. Cezanne was automatically drawn to the more radical elements of the art world. He greatly admired the romantic painter Delacroix and Manet, who exhibited realist paintings that were shocking in style and subject matter that would be opposed by most.
Most of Cezanne's early works were painted in dark tones with a heavy fluid pigment. This suggested the moody, romantic style of the previous generations. .
