“Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan“
Today, we head to southern France…
“Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan” is an oil on canvas painting by the French artist, Paul Cézanne. It was made between 1885 and 1886. Cézanne’s unique art style was a huge inspiration for cubism and the abstract art movement of the early twentieth century. Today, his art and influence are seen as the bridge between Impressionism and Cubism.
In this painting, Cézanne depicts an avenue lined with chestnut trees at his family’s estate in Aix-en-Provence in southern France. He paints the avenue from its side in a direct and horizontal manner, collapsing the depth of the scene. The trees on opposite ends of the road, quite far apart, appear to be in line. The straight vertical orientation of the trees is in striking contrast with the avenue and wall behind them. The building, grassy field, and mountain in the background add a complexity to the canvas. The bare branches of the chestnut trees show this is a winter scene.
Cézanne was born and raised in Aix-en-Provence near Marseille in southern France. Throughout his career, he continuously left Paris to paint the scenery back home, creating 36 oil paintings while there. He eventually retired there. Much of his inspiration was from his family’s estate.
In 1886, Cézanne married Hortense Fiquet, with whom he had been in a relationship since 1869 and had a child together. During the 1880s, the couple moved to southern France permanently, leaving Paris behind. After his father’s death in 1886, he inherited the family estate, Jas de Bouffan, and the subject of this landscape. So many of his works depict his home with great affection. Jas de Bouffan is open to the public today and still has its chestnut tree-lined avenue.
With this piece, Cézanne wanted to show the natural geometry of nature. He used multiple viewpoints in painting the trees and concerned himself with creating strong horizontal and vertical planes, a sort of geometric landscape. Away from Paris and the impressionist artists, and strengthened by working in his hometown, he was emboldened in his landscapes.
“Chestnut Trees at Jas de Bouffan” is currently on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States.
For more on Paul Cézanne, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
