In another synchronistic event, I learned of a current exhibit on Paul Cezanne and his influence on other artists in the same week that Dick talked about him in art history class (week 7). The Philadelphia Museum of Art has a major show going on through May 31, “Cezanne and Beyond.” Apparently, he was very influential on both his contemporaries and later artists. The New York Times art review says both Picasso and Matisse have been credited with saying “Cézanne is the father of us all.” The reviewer has some quibbles, but says “it’s a deeply satisfying show, with enough spectacular moments to justify the ticket lines and plenty of quieter revelations that will resonate particularly for working artists.”

Dick declared Cezanne “the father of modern art” and credited him with “an entirely different way of seeing.” He said Cezanne was “trying to recognize a reality beyond what we perceive. He wanted to give solidity and form to what had been dissolved by the Impressionists. He didn’t want to have a disintegrated canvas, he was trying to integrate it.” He highlighted some of Cezanne’s work towards the end of his lecture on April 16, which you can see on Slideshare here. The first part of the lecture covered Realism and Impressionism, and is on Slideshare here.