STILL LIFE A LA CEZANNE BY Cecelia Lyden

oil on canvas

24x28

I was an art history major a million years ago. There were several artists who became my favorites and Paul Cezanne was and still is one of them. He has been called the"father of modern art", because he began to challenge the notion that 2 dimensional paintings should render depth[ which is 3 dimensional] as realistically as possible, using linear perspective, atmospheric perspective, vertical position, etc. He and, later, most modern artists felt that the canvas was 2 dimensional and objects in the painting should reflect that. He "tilted" tabletops, which brought objects to an almost upright position. He outlined many things which tended to flatten objects. He loved shapes and colors and clung to representationl rendering of things, but latter started to fracture and flatten things, like rocks and mountains.

I am a representational artist. I can't shake my love of things, people, and vistas around me. Though I love recognizing geometrical shapes in all things around me, I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to paint in a non-representaional manner. I like abstract work and respect artists that paint this way. I like Cezanne's still lifes because they combine "modern" ideas and techniques, but still depict the beauty around him in a recognizabe way.

For my painting, I assembled some of my things, some of which resembled objects from Cezanne's paintings. I tilted the tabletop, so as to see more of the shapes . I used a flowing drape and tablecloth to lead the eye around the canvas. I did not concern myself with realistic shadows and used dark lines to separate some of the things on the table. The colors are unrealistically bright. It was fun to paint in this carefree manner. Of course I had Cezanne to lead the way.