Atelier Cézanne
by Céleste
Paul Cézanne, as we’ve said before, is a big deal in Aix-en-Provence. He’s a hometown dude who was born, raised, and died here. Before coming to Aix, I had of course heard of Cézanne, but didn’t necessarily know or care about him. He didn’t speak to me like some artists do for some people, and I really wasn’t very familiar with his work in the first place. Well, welcome to Aix.
This is what we first saw upon leaving the bus:
The train station exit is named after him. There are little placards in the streets that one can follow all around town to “walk in the artist’s steps.” Numerous cafes, hotels, and bistrots are named after him. It’s just kind of a Cézanne-centric atmosphere. So how can you not learn to love him?
He’s definitely grown on me. When Vincent and I went to Mont Ste.-Victoire, I could see what Cézanne was on to. It was beautiful, and should rightfully be immortalized in painting, like so.
So, with our new-found appreciation for Cézanne, we decided to head to the Atelier Cézanne, or Cézanne’s Workshop. (A side-note for those who would like to see some of the sights we mention in our blog: get the Aix Pass. It’s saved us a lot so far, and we haven’t even gone to all the available tourist spots! It’s only 2 euros, what do you have to lose?)
The Atelier is located up a hill, past the Cathédrale de St.-Sauveur, but before the Terrain des Peintres. It’s an unassuming little building, surrounded by a garden. It’s not a traditional museum, but therein lies it’s strength. It’s actually just one room, plus the gardens/grounds. And it doesn’t even contain his paintings! It’s literally the studio he used for the last 4-ish years until his death, left exactly how it was over 100 years ago.
Looking around the room, you can see items from his most famous paintings. For example, the skulls from this painting are just chilling on a ledge in the corner. One of the curators told us that Mr. C had friends who were doctors and anatomists, and they would pick out the best skulls for him, since they knew he was an artist and loved painting round things (I guess?).
Also in the room were Paul’s coats, artist’s tools, the contraption he used to rig up his larger canvases, letters from friends, photos, furniture he received from his own mother, and lots of bowls of fruit, one of which he received from Zola, according to the curator.
Which brings me to the coolest part about the Atelier: the curators are knowledgeable and clearly love Cézanne. The woman we spoke with was passionate about him, and knew a lot of fun and interesting little factoids about his life, especially his life in Aix and his work at the Atelier. (Example: “We know he only swept this room once in the 4 years he lived here. We even have the date and time this happened, because his sister did it and he complained about it in a letter.”) The curators were what really brought this museum to life for me. Just seeing Cézanne’s objects was interesting, but what was more enlightening for me was hearing about his personality, through anecdotes and information gleaned from letters and the words of friends.
I highly recommend this museum, if only due to the zeal of the staff. It was quaint, interesting, and full of personality.
Here are a few more photos, including the gardens and the outside of the building. No photos are allowed inside.
