Cézannean

Cézannean refers to the style, methods, and influence associated with the French painter Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) and to works that embody his approach to painting. In art history, the term denotes a set of characteristics rather than a formal movement, emphasizing the formal construction of subjects and the transition from a purely impressionist sensibility to concerns with form, structure, and space. A Cézannean approach treats nature as something to be reorganized into geometric components and solid planes.

Key features include a focus on underlying geometry—cylinders, spheres, and cones—used to model forms such as apples, bottles, and landscapes; and a careful coordination of color to define mass rather than rely solely on atmospheric light. Brushwork often consists of short, repeated strokes or patches that build a cohesive surface. Perspective is frequently treated as multiple viewpoints rather than a single vanishing point, yielding a sense of dimensionality that can also appear to flatten the picture plane.

Subject matter commonly includes still lifes and landscapes, notably Cézanne’s Mont Sainte-Victoire series, as well as table settings and fruit. The Cézannean method influenced many later movements; artists such as Picasso and Braque cited Cézanne as a decisive precursor to Cubism, by promoting the construction of form and the autonomy of color.

In contemporary art discourse, Cézannean is used to describe works that exhibit these methodological concerns—an interest in structure, form, and the reorganization of observed nature—while acknowledging that Cézanne developed these ideas through long-term study and experimentation.