Paul Cezanne and Samuel Peploe

In the following essay I am going to look at the work of Paul CÐ"©zanne and Samuel John Peploe. I am then going to compare the two.

Paul CÐ"©zanne (1839-1906)

Paul CÐ"©zanne was born in Aix-en Province, the son of a French banker. In 1861 he abandoned his study of law to join his boyhood friend, Emile Zola (a writer) in Paris as a student at the Academie Suisse. He soon returned to Aix to work at his father's bank as a clerk. In November 1862 he returned to Paris and from that day onwards he was committed to his art.

He joined the circle of the CafÐ"© Geurboise which included Zola, Pissaro, Manet, Degas, Renoir and Monet. His career did not develop as he wasn't easy to know and like.

In 1874 he exhibited three canvasses at the first Impressionist exhibition, but they attracted little but ridicule from the critics. His painting however had its admirers. Dr. Gachet, a friend of the Impressionists, bought several canvasses. His most important patron after 1875 was Victor Choquet, who not only had his portrait painted several times, but acquired more than thirty-five works by CÐ"©zanne.

In 1877, at his only other exhibition with the Impressionists, CÐ"©zanne showed 16 works which were all hung together in the main room.

Due to his nature and temperament it wouldn't be surprising if CÐ"©zanne had been a recluse, but he made regular visits to Paris from Aix and he met both Monet and Renoir on their visits south.

CÐ"©zanne was in his late fifties when he finally achieved critical acclaim. In 1904, the Salon d'Automme devoted a room to his works. In his last years CÐ"©zanne became a more solitary person. His wife and son lived mostly in Paris whilst he remained in Aix, thinking only of his work and failing health.

CÐ"©zanne had had virtually no public life of career as recognition of his greatness came too late. In 1906 he was caught in a storm when he was out painting and in the days that followed he became desperately ill.

Paul CÐ"©zanne died on October 22nd 1906.

Samuel John Peploe (1871-1935)

Peploe was born in 1871. His father was a banker and they were comfortably well off, but his father died in 1884 when Peploe was just 14 years old. His uncle obtained a post for him at a law firm, but Peploe insisted studying art and enrolled at the Edinburgh School of Art. He then moved to Paris in 1894 to continue his studies. There is a group of his early works, mostly studio studies and still-life's, characterised by dark tones and limited colour, but strong brush brushwork. He was very influenced by Manet, as can be seen in "Coffee and Liqueur", but his figures are more original.

In 1903, Peploe held his first one man exhibition in Edinburgh and it was a great success. The spectacular series of still-life like, "The Black Bottle" (1903) and "Still Life with a Coffee Pot" followed a visit to Paris in 1990. In both pictures, he uses a sparkling white tablecloth against a dark background. Then he uses brilliant colour against this simple tonal contrast. The use of still-life's, which was new to Scottish painting, shows that his inspiration still lay in Manet.

From 1904, Peploe worked part of each summer in France, visiting his close friend Fergusson. He married in 1910 and moved to live in Paris for two years. During this decade he had become interested in the work of Van Gogh and "The Fauves" and in painting based on pure colour. His paintings were rather different though, because although he did outdoor landscapes, he also did studio paintings, which are flooded with light, but it is the cool, northern light of blues, greens and whites. Paintings such as "Boats at Royan" (1910) used the blue of daylight, but were also accented by the intense colours of direct sunlight. Peploe returned to Edinburgh in 1912. He still painted in open air, but became preoccupied with still-life. He was increasingly concerned with pictorial structure and surface and the geometric relationship between the various forms in his compositions.

Unfortunately his work had lost much of its spontaneity and fluid application of paint of his paintings in France. Peploe painted landscape at Kirkcudbright between 1916 and 1919 which clearly show influence of CÐ"©zanne.

"The Blue Vase" by Paul CÐ"©zanne was completed in 1887 and is a still life painting.

In this painting CÐ"©zanne uses warm, oranges and creams against a blue and grey background to create a simple tonal contrast. I think the colours are very realistic and don't seem at all exaggerated, the very few colours that he uses are simple and lifelike.

Light, medium and dark tones are used to create different shadows for example under the plate or on the dark side of the wall. From the use of light and dark tones it is clear the light is coming from the top right of the painting, from a door.

In the painting the central object is a blue vase; inside the vase is an assortment of flowers. Behind the vase is a white plate and beside the plate is an object which looks like a bell. To the right of the vase there is a small orange and just along from this is a large orange, next to the large orange is what looks like a peach. The objects all have rounded edges and soft outlines. The objects are all close together and the vase is obstructing the view of the plate. The objects have been painted at eye level. The edges of the objects seem to have a double outline which seems blurred but when you look closer there is a strong outline just beside the fuzzy one. I think this gives the objects a more rounded appearance and helps the painting look more realistic.

In the painting I think the artist is suggesting a peaceful and relaxed mood. The soft, smudged, laidback fore colours against the calming dark blue wall in the background creates this mood and I think that the hazy light from the door also helps.

In my opinion the painting has a childish composition