Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne is often called the 'father of us all' by artists like Picasso and Matisse. His work bridged the gap between Impressionism and Cubism by focusing on the underlying geometric structure of nature. Cézannes approach to color and formusing small, deliberate brushstrokes to build volumecreated a sense of stability and permanence that contrasted with the fleeting nature of Impressionism. His still-life and landscape paintings are essential studies for any artist interested in composition, the simplification of form, and the intellectual rigor required to build a painting from the ground up.