The Beat - Pato & Roger A Go Talk

It's a gray and rainy Saturday over here. Last weekend we visited the Cézanne et Paris exhibit here in Paris and loved it. Our (retired art professor) friend explained how Cézanne really developed the Cézanne that we know during his time in Paris, before moving to the south where he produced his classics. Besides finding the exhibit itself interesting, I also enjoyed seeing that his time around Paris was often in the villages that are on my cycling route outside of town. I have not yet seen the bridge in Maincy that was a turning point for his painting style but I've been very close. It's in the area of one of my favorite rides that starts and finishes in Melun along the Seine. The bridge is not too far from the lovely Château de Vaux le Vicomte which has it's own interesting history. But back to Cézanne and his painting, Maincy is when he finally moved on from impressionism, which was never really his comfort zone. It was Cézanne who after centuries of adding depth to painting, flattened the canvas and opened the door to modern art. Now I need to get our friends back up to Paris again for my next art history lesson. For the art history specialists out there, please correct or add more to the story of Cézanne. It was a crash course so I may have missed some points last weekend.