Digital Commons @ Colby

Title

Cézanne, the formal approach

Author (Your Name)

Annette B. Picher, Colby College

Date of Award

1957

Document Type

Senior Scholars Paper (Open Access)

Department

Colby College. Art Dept.

Advisor(s)

James M. Carpenter

Abstract

The understanding and illustration of the most important formal principles in the work of Paul Cézanne was the object of my study, beginning with the approach to form of two other periods before Cézanne, in order to get a perspective view of his place in the time-stream of art. My study focuses on still life because of its expediency for handling in the studio and also because the still life painter is more directly involved with formal techniques of painting, including design and execution. He is more involved with how he paints than what he paints; he must interpret the dead visual facts of a still life set up into an independent expression of living art. Painters have found several equally valid solutions to this problem. In my own paintings I have traced the change of emphasis on various formal considerations, concentrating on three major phases: Vermeer, 17th century Dutch; Manet, 19th century French; and Cézanne, 19th century French. During these periods, the desire for experimentation with new concepts or techniques prompted artists to centralize theses concepts in a way which placed more emphasis on the style or manner of painting than on what was being painted. The Dutch, for example, had discovered light effects; the Impressionists, visual perception; and Cézanne, effective truth.

Keywords

techniques, illustrations, Cézanne Paul, 1839-1906

Recommended Citation

Copyright

Colby College theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed or downloaded from this site for the purposes of research and scholarship. Reproduction or distribution for commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the author.