Oil Paint
Oil paint is a slow-drying paint made with pigment and a drying oil binder. It is widely used for artwork because it blends smoothly and develops rich color.
Painter
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French Post-Impressionist painter known for still lifes, landscapes, and portraits built through measured brushstrokes and color.
Paul Cézanne quick facts
Review Paul Cézanne's career, Post-Impressionist painting, repeated subjects, and his use of oil and watercolor to build form through color.
| Born | January 19, 1839 · Aix-en-Provence, France |
|---|---|
| Died | October 22, 1906 · Aix-en-Provence, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Movements | Post-Impressionism |
| Paint types | Oil paint · Watercolor · Gouache |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas · Paper |
| Painting methods | Short, constructive brushstrokes and overlapping color planes; transparent watercolor washes and reserved white paper |
| Common subjects | Still lifes with fruit, portraits, bathers, landscapes, and Mont Sainte-Victoire |
| Notable works | The Card Players, The Large Bathers, and the Mont Sainte-Victoire paintings |
Sources: The Met: Paul Cézanne, MoMA: Paul Cézanne, Philadelphia Museum of Art: Cézanne, MoMA: Cézanne's materials.
Paint types used
Explore the oil paint, watercolor, and gouache documented in Cézanne's paintings and works on paper, with links to each medium's characteristics.
Watercolor Paint
Watercolor paint is a water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. It is known for transparent color that settles into absorbent paper.
Gouache Paint
Gouache paint is an opaque, water-based art medium made with pigment and a water-soluble binder. Traditional formulas dry to a matte finish and can be reactivated with water.
Surface types used
Explore canvas and paper, the principal supports for Cézanne's oil paintings and watercolors, and how each surface handles paint.
Canvas
Canvas is a woven fabric support used for paintings, banners, bags, décor, and other projects. Artist canvas may be raw, sized, acrylic-primed, oil-primed, or factory-coated, and each condition changes how paint absorbs and bonds.
Paper
Paper is an absorbent sheet material made primarily from cellulose fibers. Its weight, sizing, surface texture, and wet strength determine how much paint it can accept before buckling, pilling, bleeding, or warping.
Painters similar to Paul Cézanne
Explore painters connected to Cézanne through Post-Impressionism, studies of landscape and color, and the development of modern art.
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter known for expressive color, energetic brushwork, and a highly visible paint surface.
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a French Impressionist painter known for landscapes and repeated studies of changing light, color, and atmosphere.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish artist whose long career moved through many styles and media, from the Blue and Rose periods to Cubism, classicism, Surrealism, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics.