him for the book, which he had not yet had the time to read. This was the last letter they sent each other. Zola’s novel was one of the reasons for Cézanne’s fleeing Paris. He was afraid that all his acquaintances would see in him the hero of L’Œuvre.
On the other hand, the problems of Cézanne’s family life solved themselves one after the other that year. In the spring of 1886, on the advice of his mother and sister Marie, Cézanne officially married Hortense at the Aix town hall. His son, Paul, was fourteen years old, and the matrimonial relations between him and Hortense were, in fact, dead. In October, at the age of eighty-eight, Louis-Auguste Cézanne died, and Paul inherited from him nearly 400,000 francs. The artist was thus able to settle all his debts and no longer needed to worry about his livelihood. Painting remained the only thing in his life.
Cézanne henceforth worked most of his time in Aix, rarely going to Paris. He refused to be exhibited, even with the Independents, where there was no jury. Gradually his circle of contacts became extremely narrow, the Paris of the arts almost forgot the strange Provençal.
33. Paul Cézanne, Woman with a Coffee Pot, c. 1890–1895.
Oil on canvas, 130.5 × 96.5 cm.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
34. Paul Cézanne, Portrait of Ambroise Vollard, 1899.
Oil on canvas, 100 × 81 cm.
Petit Palais – Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Paris.
35. Paul Cézanne, Woman in Blue, 1898–1899.
Oil on canvas, 88.5 × 72 cm.
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
36. Paul Cézanne, Apples and Oranges, c. 1895–1900.
Oil on canvas, 74 × 93 cm.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
37. Paul Cézanne, Still Life with Curtain, 1895.
Oil on canvas, 55 × 74.5 cm.
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg.
In 1895, the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, recently established in Paris, decided on a risky experiment: he resolved to organise an exhibition of Cézanne’s works in his gallery at 39, rue Lafitte. Cézanne agreed to the exhibition and sent Vollard nearly 150 rolled pictures from Aix. They were paintings from all the periods of his work. The large number of works was an expression of his appreciation for the recognition that he no longer expected from his contemporaries. Cézanne was right to trust Vollard although the task was difficult for the latter. For the first time the Vollard exhibition allowed Cézanne to demonstrate the path along which he had travelled and the results he had achieved. The Impressionists rejoiced. Camille Pissarro wrote to his son Lucien: “My admiration is nothing compared to Renoir’s delight. Even Degas fell under the spell of this refined barbarian. Monet too, and all of us… really, could we have been mistaken? I don’t think so.”[10] The critics, on the whole, were horrified. However, the editor of the magazine Revue blanche, Thadée Nathanson, wrote that Cézanne was an original and obstinate creator. The critic appreciated the fact that Cézanne concentrated on one single aim and that he knowingly pursued it. He said, shortly before his death: “I wanted to make of Impressionism something solid and lasting like the art found in museums.”[11]
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
