Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Cezanne Says: Paint

Happy Birthday, Paul Cezanne!

The French post-Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne was born 172 years ago today, Jan. 19, 1839. He died Oct. 22, 1906 at the age of 67. Considered the father of modern art, he lead the way from Impressionism into Cubism, influencing the course of such great masters as Matisse and Picasso.

Cezanne is also part of the inspiration behind my namesake, S'zanne. Of course, here in Texas no one pronounces my name with a French accent!

Enjoy some favorite sayings attributed to the great master...Cezanne says:

Don't be an art critic. Paint. There lies salvation.

Genius is the ability to renew one's emotions in daily experience.


Painting from nature is not copying the object; it is realizing one's sensations.

A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art.


A puny body weakens the soul.

Art is a harmony parallel with nature.

A thousand painters ought to be killed yearly.
Say what you like: I'm every inch a painter.

I am more a friend of art than a producer of painting.

I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing.

I have nothing to hide in art. The initial force alone can bring anyone to the end he must attain.

I have sworn to die painting.

I've come to the conclusion that it's not really possible to help others.

Is art really the priesthood that demands the pure in heart who belong to it wholly?

It's so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas.

Keep good company - that is, go to the Louvre.

The most seductive thing about art is the personality of the artist himself.

The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.

The painter must enclose himself within his work; he must respond not with words, but with paintings.

The truth is in nature, and I shall prove it.

We live in a rainbow of chaos.

With an apple I will astonish Paris.

When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art.

You say a new era in art is preparing; you sensed it coming; continue your studies without weakening. God will do the rest.

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