Have you ever doubted yourself? Paul Cezanne struggled with many uncertainties throughout his life. He endured the skepticism of his family along with multiple failures. He wasn’t a spectacular art student, and he was unsure whether his passion was correctly placed.  Despite these hardships, he persevered in creating the art that he loved using simple geometric forms.

Perseverance is one of the greatest things you could ever learn.

Online activities

Read

Meeting Cezanne  by Michael Morpurgo is a charming book that explores Cezanne’s famous Franch landscape.  It also touches on the relationship between Picasso and Cezanne.  It is short but very nicely done.   {affiliate link}

Create

ArtforSmallHands has a very simple tutorial on painting Cezanne inspired still-lifes that my kids really enjoyed. Or give it a try using your pastels and the ideas on PinkAndGreen.

Consider

Sadly, Cezanne is known to have said, “life is terrifying.” He used the act of painting to sooth himself, painting while police looked for him for dodging the draft, and even on day that mother died.  He suffered with a dark depression, and kept himself fairly isolated. Everyone feels afraid at some time, but it must be awful to feel that life is terrifying.  

 So, what do you think?  Does his perspective and work fit what you would expect from “The Father of Modern Art?”