Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906)
Maison en Provence (House in Provence)
c.1885
Oil on canvas, 25-1/2 x 32 in.
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis
Cézanne loved the landscape of his home in southern France and devoted much of his career to painting it. This view depicts the ridge that sweeps down from the south side of Mont Sainte-Victoire, one of the artist’s favorite motifs.
This canvas, a classic example of Cézanne’s mature style, shows his desire to suggest nature’s underlying structure. He rendered the landscape as a composition of geometric shapes. The rugged terrain is a series of horizontal bands of blue, green, and tan, punctuated by the vertical accents of the trees and the volume of the isolated farmhouse. (IMA)