Paul Cézanne

Establishing the depth of the foreground in this scene with strong diagonals, Cézanne outlined the columnar trunks of the trees, filling their branches and the lawn below with strokes of close-hued greens that screen the yellow stucco buildings. Distinctive patches of brushstrokes identify his perceptions of hard and soft forms, creating surface rhythms that move the eye in and out of the natural landscape and its geometric structures.

This is the garden of Jas de Bouffan, a house owned by Cézanne’s family near Aix-en-Provence. Cézanne built a studio on the property in 1881, preferring his home region in the south of France to life in Paris.