Paul Cezanne was the founding father of modern art, the grand master who pointed painting forward on its way from Impressionism to the 20th century. In Paris, but above all in Provence, he quested tirelessly for "a harmony parallel to Nature." This book discusses this extraordinary artist's major works and his theories of painting and color.

In the latter half of the 19th century, in the verdant countryside near Aix-en-Provence, Paul C zanne (1839-1906), busily plied his brush to landscapes and still lifes that would become anchors of modern art. With compact, intense dabs of paint and bold new approaches to light and space, he mediated the way from Impressionism to the defining movements of the early 20th century and became, in the words of both Matisse and Picasso, "father of us all."

This fresh artist introduction selects key works from C zanne's oeuvre to understand his development, innovation, and crucial influence on modern art. From compositions of fruits and pears to scenes of outdoor bathers, we trace his experimentation with color, perspective, and texture to evoke "a harmony parallel to Nature," as well as the very process of seeing and recording.

Along the way, we discover C zanne's celebrated Card Players, his layering of warm and cool hues to build up form and surface, and the geometric rigor of his landscapes from the vicinity of Aix-en-Provence, as bright with the light of southern France as they are bold with a radical new rendering of dimensions and depth.