Paul Cezanne’s name is all over Aix-en-Provence. Streets, a film and even a sandwich are named after the artist. pan bagnat …but with goat cheese instead. The city will be Cezanne-crazy from late June onwards, when the atelier of the painter, located north of the center, and his family home, to the west, reopens after eight years of restoration.
Cezanne, the father of modern art, was ignored in Aix for most of his life and many years following his death. Hortense Cezanne, his widow, donated several of her husband’s paintings to Aix. Musée GranetHenri Pontier, the director of the Henri Pontier Gallery, declared that Cezanne’s paintings would only enter his gallery if he died.
Aix, which has been neglecting its film industry for the past century (since Pontier is dead), makes up for it this year with a blockbuster. exhibition at Musée Granet This exhibition is to coincide with the unveiling Cezanne’s studio and estate, which was purchased by Cezanne’s family in the year 1859. The retrospective will feature more than 130 artworks, Includes still lifes as well as portraits and landscapes.
The Bastide du JAS de Bouffan was the refuge and inspiration of the painter during the 40-year period. Cezanne’s father, a banker, bought the 18th century mansion and farm with 15 hectares from a bankrupt customer. He was disappointed that his son Paul had no interest whatsoever in finance. However, he allowed him to use the ground-floor. Grand salon Workspace is a good example.
The house fell into disrepair by 2017, and the renovations took a while. We get a sneak preview before the grand opening on 28 June. It’s located in a suburb of Aix (20 minutes away from the city centre or a few bus stops on no. 8), but it’s still a lovely place. Three serene floors in five acres of lush grounds with shutters painted Aix’s trademark grey-blue.
The projections in the grand salon reproduce the paintings that Cezanne, as a young man, made on the wall. This includes a “four season” fresco. His card players series – one of which set a record in 2011 for the highest price ever paid for a work of art – was painted here, as was an 1866 portrait of Cezanne père The act of reading a paper. (The artist and his family never used an accent on the first ‘e’ of their name: Cézanne seems to have been a later, Parisian invention.)
On the second floor the family built a Paul’s studio. Its tall window is visible from the front. Also, the kitchen and Madame Cezanne’s room can be seen.
Daily guided tours of the interior (available in English) will cost from €9.50, but if these sell out, a ticket just for the grounds is still rewarding. Cezanne’s outdoor works are a favorite of many Cezanne fans. They come alive in the expansive gardens. The chestnut avenue, farm buildings, and the square are all evocative. Basse The pond is featured in many pictures. I was excited to see the lions and dolphins that appear in several paintings, with the lions’ bums raised in the air. The majestic plane trees, orangery and other features were added later by the owners.
Cezanne’s atelier was built in Les Lauves in 1886 after his father died and his estate was sold. It had a beautiful view of Mont Sainte-Victoire – the mountain that had been his inspiration for so many years. From many places, you can see the 1,000-metre-high ridge of limestone, including from the roof terrace at our hotel. Escaletto (doubles from €105) on the edge of the old town.
It’s a 15-minute walk from here to the atelier, up a road now called Avenue Paul Cézanne. The house is built in a traditional style, and has a kitchen, living room, and atelier on the first floor. His last workstation was where he painted his Bathers series. one The National Gallery in London has a replica of this. The lower level will feature displays of the artist’s coat and palette next winter.
Aix must have had mixed feelings towards its famous son. Cezanne’s paintings are spread over more than 1,000 works, but just one of them is of the city. It’s an aquarelle of the fountain at Place de la Mairie. He painted hundreds of landscapes, including more than 80 of Mont Sainte-Victoire. To find Cezanne’s Provence you need to get away from Aix.
Between the city and mountain is Bibémus Quarry, the source of creamy ochre stones that have built Aix from Roman times. Bus no. 6 takes you there, and it’s like taking a trip through a hundred paintings. The wooded hills have been protected and the daily tickets are available at the tourist office. They include a shuttle service from the terminal in Les Trois Bonnes Dieux. The pictures cannot convey the sound of birdsongs, the heat in southern France and the scents of pine trees and brooms that are present early in summer.
Cezanne created 27 paintings in this quarry, establishing his precubist style, using the signature palette of blues, greens and ochre. Reproductions of paintings around the quarry show the vantage point from which they were made – and their current homes: this one now in New York, others in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Baltimore …
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US tourists visiting Europe might not feel that their country has much to offer right now. However, in Aix the US collectors are credited with spreading Cezanne’s fame and preserving his legacy. A group of US collectors saved the atelier from being demolished in 1952. A US artist was also involved. George Bunker, bought the Bibémus quarry in 1954 and left it to the city when he died in 1991, on condition that the land be protected and open to visitors.
Canadian sculptor David CampbellBunker had been a close friend for many years. He has now lived in the quarryman’s home in which he lives in his 80s. He is seen exercising at the edge of the quarry. Later, he shows us his fluid works of white limestone and masterful recreations of medieval stonework.
The Red Rock, c.1895 (now in Paris). Musée de l’OrangerieThe small post on the left-hand side of this painting is still present today. But the site reminds me another The National Gallery has an unusual figure with a blue shirt and white trousers dwarfed on the wall by orange rock.
You can book a room at the hotel. 6pm visit to Bibémus to enjoy the setting sun on Mont Sainte-Victoire (€17pp) or a half-day electric bike tour from Aix (€90pp including bike hire). This area may be closed at any time if the mistral winds are high enough to cause wildfires.
Gardanne is a town that Cezanne chose to paint. It’s located about seven miles away from Aix (8 minutes by train). Cezanne tourism here is informal. The plaque in the Cours Forbin main street shows that he and his family lived there for an productive year between 1885 and 1886.
Nearby Colline des Frères (Brothers’ Hill) was an open-air studio for Cezanne, and a free-to-visit walking route includes reproductions of paintings of his favourite mountain, with Gardanne and its bell tower in the foreground. The cooling towers of the power station do slightly detract from today’s picture. Again, these works are almost all now in the US – one even in the White House. The local tourism office is responsible for guided tours (€10, in English) on Fridays in July and August.
Gardanne does not have any hotels, but there are a self-catering let We were able to take full advantage of the huge street market, which is held under a canopy of towering planes trees on Cours Forbin every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
The square blobs that appear on the right side of Cezanne’s Gardanne paintings, are actually windmills. And they still exist. Climbing up Cativel, we see three mills. The oldest still has sails on it, and 1567 appears over the front door. On a hillside glistening in Cezanne’s colours, umbrella pines cast interlocking shades that complete the painting-like scene.
Aix is all about Cezanne in Aix this year but you can find more intimate encounters off the main tourist route.
