Good morning Mr. Cezanne, I can’t believe I am here meeting you!
Mmmm, thanks, good morning.
How are you liking the weather here in Canada?
Well, lovely crisp air here, and a strong sun, which I am familiar with. But it is cold here, you can’t seem to go anywhere without a parka. I love the expanse of views you have here, and the mountains are breathtaking. I think I might have a hard time with the sense of scale.
Well I do like to get outside in the mountains and paint. So maybe you would like to come along with me some day!?
Ah, “sur le motif”, that is the best way to learn!! We will see, I am a little confined here now, and do not get out as much as I should.
“Sur le motif”, that is the way you painted wasn’t it?
Ah, yes it was…
And how did you pick your places to go?
Well, it was harder to get around back then. My immediate surrounding landscape was all I really knew, at times I thought it banal, but you garner a deep appreciation of the landscape in which you were born into. I did paint from my parents summer home, the Jas de Bouffan they called it, it was a lovely grounds south of Aix. I also went south to Marseille and rented a place at L’Estaque, which had a lovely view of the lake.I went to Paris often, but I guess I just kept coming back to the place I knew, Provence.
I remember reading that one of your favourite spots was by a big pine tree?
Yes, that old pine was a signature tree of the area. We do not have the abundance of trees that you have here in Canada. Most of the vegetation in and around Aix consists of scrub brush and gnarly small evergreens. This tree was large and stood alone on the edge of a bank overlooking the valley with a view to Mount Victoire in the distance. The place was comfortable for me. I had gone there as a boy and would swim in the summers. I had good memories of the place, as you would say. This place had all the compositional elements of a painting, the nearby tree in the foreground, a mid-distance and the distant mount St. Victoire.
I remember seeing a painting of yours ofn this tree. The tree in the near foreground juxtaposed against a distant background. Such lovely linework, and colour. How did you do it?
Well, I really loved this place, and I guess some days this would come through. Most times it is hard toil, and inclement weather, too hot or too cold. Too cloudy or too sunny. But sometimes the weather is right, you have a full belly, and you can paint the magnificent view in front of you. Ah, the glory of that majestic pine, ancient, yet invigorated with life. Its fresh buds in bloom. Set off against the distant plain of fields dotted with farm houses. The trick was to keep the pine tree front and center against the distant background. That is where you see the linework come in.
Yes, some of your darker outlines, I remember.
Yes, that is how you set the foreground from the background. I generally do not think that heavy outlines should be used in a painting, but this was born of a necessity. When nothing is working, drastic measures are required!
Please explain.
I remember placing the tree just so. And the distant plain behind it, and the mountain and sky. But it was not alive. The painting was even flatter than I had wanted it. At some point, born from frustration, and a freeing sense that this painting no longer held promise, I just started drawing over top of the tree, outlining the shapes and accentuating the junctures as I saw them. And this actually seemed to work! It also had the secondary benefit of freeing me up. No longer was I concerned with perfectly matching an area of colour, but rather I was looking at my painting and seeing what it needed, to correspond to the beauty in front of me. Yes, I was in a “zone” that day, as you might say.
I’ve also noticed in your painting that there are many focal points i.e areas of details, with spaces in between, was this intentional?
If I understand what your asking, and I think I do, it is a very good question. When detailing a landscape, it is not worth the effort to put in all the detail, and to what effect would that be anyway!? I realized that it is better to be selective, choose your area of focus, and detail these small junctures. Leave space in between the items – breathing room if you will.
And how do you get your shapes to be so alive!?
Take your cues from observing nature, then apply your will.
Easier said then done, I guess.
Yes, it does take many hours of hard labour and close observation.
On a completely different topic. Did you ever think you would become as famous as you are today?
No, the short answer is no. I had an inkling that I was a good painter, and my work was gaining more interest, and selling, as I neared the end of my career, but it is unimaginable how popular many of the artists of my day have become. It was a good time to be a painter, in retrospect.
Why, did you not think that painting was a worthwhile endeavor at the time?
Yes, of course! Painting is a work of passion. There are times of complete frustration and ineptitude.I painted because I could, and that is it.
Because you could? How so?
I was fortunate to have an allowance from my father to support me through my life, such that I could choose my path. I had passion and the temperament to keep going with the work. At my better moments, I also thought I had more talent than all those other worthless slugs!
I see. Have you followed painting since your death?
Only occasionally.
And what do you think of the painters of today?
Yes, well, technology has really bowled us over hasn’t it? The technology of the world today is really magnificent. Ironically painting has not really progressed much. But the painters I see of today are exceptionally proficient. When I think back after my death, painting took a turn to abstraction with the cubists. That was the start of the intellectualizing of the art of painting. Yes, unfortunately, it was only the start. What they got up to in the 50’s and 60’s, this art for arts sake. It was a heady time for the intellectuals for sure. But what do they have to show for themselves, not much I’m afraid.
What do you think of Picasso?
Oh, well he did like me. He did a lot to promote my name. But that was what he was, a fearless promoter. A personality with a brush. He could draw, but frankly was not much of a painter, but then that’s what people said about me also. I do like some of the abractionists’ work. Some of the later Americans, it was amazing how they could make something so internal, real. Great passion, I was never able to leave my “motif” as it were.
Where would you like to see painting go today?
Well, that’s a tough question. First off painting is not nearly as important as it was in my time. I can’t believe I am saying this, as it wasn’t really that important in my time either. But we did have the salon showing each year, which I never attended, but it was something to put on the calendar so to speak. We also had art critics who, though mostly ignorant, professed an interest in the art and wrote about it to the public. Today, there is no general interest in the art, yet each individual has unlimited ability to show their work through our society of instant communication. Painting no longer holds the same place in society as it once did. A painting in my time could make a meaningful impact in society. You could incite outrage or disbelief. Today we have seen it all, and there are no images that can distract us. In fact, the art form of today is TV, yes TV, not movies, but the multi-series TV show. A lot more can be said about the human condition through a TV series than through a painting. In my work, I was not trying to make a statement about our affairs, I was simply painting what I saw. However, I was trying to make a statement about painting. Those were heady times! Nobody had ever painted like us before. I was trying to state what a painting was and should be. Today, it has all been said and painted before. You have to accept painting as a niche industry,and hopefully there will be people who appreciate it. Painting today has to be more. It has to be more than representing our natural world in a fresh way on the canvas. It has to be more than just a new style. In painting a landscape, the value in a painting is in how much it has the ability to comment on the human condition. I want to learn how to live when I look at a painting! How honestly can you apply the paint? What kind of mood can you create? How much emotional resonance does the painting have? These are the factors of importance in a painting today.
Wow, heady stuff. Would you like to comment on raising a family?
Well, I may be old, I guess somewhere around 186 years old today… but I am still not sure I have learned this lesson. Things were different in my day. How’s that for a mellowing of tone!? When I was a father, the man of the house had freer reign. It was socially acceptable for me to do my own thing. Although I admit, I took full advantage of this. I was lonely at times, really lonely. And I did feel that I could have done more for the boy. (Paul, his son) But I am not a fucking saint, and I did what I did, and probably would do the same again.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.
No no. I have met some of my great, great, great… I don’t know how many greats, grandchildren, and I enjoy watching them grow. Those little lads are a pure joy, but they are so far removed from me now that I recognize no familial resemblance. The first few generations were dunces, spoiled dunces, but the later generations are starting to get some of our Cezanne intelligence back.
Yes, I guess you never really had a chance to watch your boy grow up?
What exactly are you implying!?
Nothing, sorry sir. How has the food been throughout your stay?
Fantastic. One of my favourites growing up was vermicelli and oil. But now we go to a Vietnamese place and they serve the same thing with vegetables and pork. Delicious. I also really like your Alberta beef, so tender. I do wish that you had a better side to serve with it than potatoes though. Sometimes I miss the heartiness of the food back in Aix.
What have you been working on? Cezanne asks.
Myself, I have been working on landscape painting. I also have a part time job accounting to pay the bills.
Ah yes, will you show me some of your work?
David, proceeds to take Cezanne up to his studio, where they peruse some of his landscapes.
I mostly work on smaller size canvases, as I find it easier to complete in the field. There of course can serve as a study for a larger work, or simply as a painting to sell on their own. Here are a few of the larger works I have completed. But a lot of my paintings are currently let out to some local galleries.
Ah yes, there are some nice touches here. Some of these mountain shapes work nicely. Do you want my advise?
Yes, of course! Please do.
Mix your paint better. Pay attention to the contrasting colours. And for God’s sake put some refinement in your paintings! I know you want to make a statement, but the one thing I learned later on in life, is to provide some lyricism in my paintings. Have a look at Corot’s later work.You have heard of Corot haven’t you?
Yes I have of course.
Well this is a comfy chair. And I like the light coming in through your skylight. My last studio I had was along the Chemin de Lauves, and it had a large north window that worked wonderfully. Although I still preferred to paint from the source, outside as it were.
Yes, I completely agree that painting outside is best.I get outside when I can. What would be a recommendation on how I could improve in my painting?
Get outside, just as you are. You seem to have some talent, but you will have to get outside more and learn your craft. And find your statement.
What do you mean by “your statement”.
You need to find what you want to say in a painting, and make it bold.
Hmm, yeah, I guess.
What was that barbaric game on the TV last night? Asks Cezanne.
That was the hockey game. The playoffs are on. And there are a few Canadian teams in the mix, so it has been exciting to watch.
I really like all this mindless entertainment you have nowadays. You can keep busy doing nothing for as long as you like.
Yes, I guess that’s a good thing and a bad thing. I assume you were much more productive in your day, without any distractions?
Yes, maybe, but I was bored to death having to read the same stories over and over again. And it was so much more difficult to get around. I walked everywhere, and took a horse and carriage to travel the longer distances.
I have just been reading “The Masterpiece” about a painter that goes mad, by your childhood friend Emile Zola. Did that book upset you? As during your time I think there was a rumour that the character was based on you.
Well yes I was very upset about that book. It portrayed my family in a very poor light. The boy was an idiot. The wife a blubbering mess. And Claude Lorran was a simple fool. The whole of the book had no real depth, and was meant to be popular culture, not any form of serious literature. Emile was a writer, so I guess I always knew that I might be a character in one of his books. I lived in such anonymity, so I did secretly wish that his writing might bring me some notoriety, but the characters in the book were so poor, that it made me out to be a laughing stock. In retrospect though it did act in some way as a promoter of my name.
Yes, I was surprised at how poorly developed the characters in the book are. Although maybe there is something lost in the English translation. Maybe?
I don’t think so. I frankly think that the book is just not very good.
What was your favourite work that you did?
Well, I loved painting from the source obviously, so some of my landscapes I am partial to. Some of the paintings by Mont Sainte Victoire and at my fathers summer home. I like some of my earlier work as they were better finished. But I also like some of my unfinished looking watercolour landscapes from later in my life. The bathers were a passion of mine, and I spent a lot of time and thought on my still life paintings. Typically my favourite painting was the most recent group of paintings, but yeah in retrospect, with time away from them all, I would have to say my landscape paintings are the ones that I find most pleasant.
Your earliest work (that I have seen) was quite dark, and your later work is quite light and spacious. Have you noticed this? And would you care to comment on this?
Well, obviously it was not intentional, but I think this is a fair comment. In my early work I was focused on making a bold statement, of giving solidity to all I painted. The darkness suited that atmosphere that I was trying to convey. A mystery. I was also very inward looking and philosophical at the time, so this may have played into my paintings. Ah, those were headstrong years, but not very fruitful.
Do you think that all those years were a necessary step in your progress to your later work?
In an ideal world, no. But that is what I had to go through to get to the end. A rite of passage if you will. What is that saying, 90% of success is just showing up. I persevered through hard, hard times and came out at the end.
Yes, I guess that you were not always enamoured with your chosen profession of painting?
No, certainly not. I was an Artist for over 40 years, and throughout this time I had some severe misgivings about my chosen profession. In fact I would say that over half the time I was in a state of disillusion of my work. I would be absorbed and passionate about the work for a stretch, and when I ran out I would inevitably look back on the work and question the whole process. I thought I was revolutionizing painting, then in a weeks time I would think that I was a bumbling fool. It was very hard at times, as I had given up or distanced most everything in my life, except for my painting, so when that abandoned me, it was very hard. But, generally speaking I could always look back and see some glimmer of positivity in my work to keep me going. I did spend long stretches of time ignoring the work and would do other things.
Also, I had other painters around me. In the good times I painted with Camille Pissaro. We truly felt like ground breakers at that time. In my later years, although I painted alone, I was aware of the other artists in my sphere and would follow their progress. This would encourage me to continue.
I read in one of your letters in which you signed off as “an Artist by inclination”. Just what did you mean by that?
Oh, we wrote many letters in those times, and with Emile, my childhood friend, I was always trying to sign off in a new striking and novel way. This was just one instance of my parting words. I guess I was just trying to express the fact that I was not necessarily naturally talented, but that I possessed the desire and perseverance to be a painter.
The light in this room is similar to Provence, says Cezanne.
Really! I guess maybe similar geographic regions, arid grasslands? We have a strong direct light here. We are high up in elevation.
Yes, and we had the winds, the mistral, and the heat, oh at times it was simply unbearable. I miss that sun.
How exactly is it that I am speaking here with you today? You are around 180 years old now aren’t you?
Well some trees are that old, they just injected me with that serum, and my brain awoke. As you can see my body is all artificial, but I have to say, a very passable job at looking real. It’s odd, I feel like I am half real and half gone. It is like I have a dream of a twitch in my arm, then I look down and “my” arm moves. It is all very foreign, but I am getting used to it. And I presume I look “real “ enough to you?
Absolutely, it’s uncanny. I guess I would say that I can notice some artificiality in your face, as that is probably where I pay the most attention to, but your thoughts and conversation are seemly entirely human.
Yes, because they are.
Would you ever pick up the brush again?
Ahh I have the desire to, but I am often with the doctors in the lab, so unfortunately do not have the time. You see these moments of lucidity do not come without a lot of work on the doctors’ part to ensure everything is working fine.
Brilliant! Well I am so glad you are here. As I have said, I am such a big fan of your work!
Yes, I am quite surprised of the recognition I have received. I guess I was in the right time at the right place…
To be continued…