Art: Mountain in Provence

Although he journeyed often to Paris and other parts of France seeking subject material for his inspired brush, Painter Paul Cézanne always returned to his home town of Aix-en-Provence. He seemed to thrive best in the sunny, sleepy atmosphere of Provence, with its sloping vineyards bathed in Mediterranean light and its vistas of baked mountains seen though cool green pines. He liked to hire a carriage and ride out to a spot on the road south from Aix where the view of Mount Sainte-Victoire especially appealed to him. There, sitting beneath a pine tree, Cézanne painted the swirling, dramatic picture above, catching on canvas the marvelous interplay of lights and shadows of his beloved Provence.

In 1902, four years before his death, Cézanne built a studio on the Chemin des Lauves, half a mile noth of Aix, commanding a fine view of the town and the surrounding mountains. Cézanne painted most of his last pictures in this studio. This week Cézanne’s old studio, purchased and restored by an international committee, was formally opened as a museum and memorial to the French Master.