Paul Cezanne: The Complete Works

August 16, 2011 6:56 PM

Paul Cezanne: The Complete Works
posted by Trurl (13 comments total)

I am an art book collector, and I long for the days when people can sort out the copyright issues such that I can have my Catalogue Raissone thoroughness, combined with anal retentive high-res power of Google Art Project (Cezanne linked here).
On a 17" tablet device.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Give me that, and I'll give up my art book collection.
posted by Theta States at 7:03 PM on August 16, 2011 [4 favorites]

Wowy wowy wowy wow! Excellent stuff!
posted by Renoroc at 7:28 PM on August 16, 2011

d00d!!!!1

ex-cell-ent!
posted by jason's_planet at 7:30 PM on August 16, 2011

metafilter viewers agree - we want more of this
posted by archivist at 7:39 PM on August 16, 2011

ooh, why can't you sort by date, it would be interesting to see how he changed over time.
(great find!)
posted by sineater at 8:18 PM on August 16, 2011 [2 favorites]

I've never been all that crazy about Cezanne. Looking at his paintings, they strike me as being the paintings of someone who isn't particularly good at painting, but who sticks to it despite this, and who has a style, a way of approaching painting that is doggedly consistent -- but not all that proficient. My thoughts are that he stuck to his method so hard and so consistently that the style eventually won people over. But at the core, there's something sort of primitive and amateurish about this style (and maybe that's what people love about it?). But maybe I'm a philistine, who doesn't know any better. That being said, I have tried my hand at painting a time or two (or hundred or so), so I'm not speaking from the position of the specific sort of ignorance of those who've only looked at paintings without trying to make any.

That being said, since he does seem to have a consistent style, if you like that style, then more power to you.
posted by smcameron at 8:40 PM on August 16, 2011

Thanks for pointing this out. It's a useful site for learning of the existence of appealing cezanne pics I didn't know about (I see several, all watercolors) which I can then go hunt for elsewhere in better versions.

It's not really a site for looking at cezanne, though, due to itty-bitty images. Hit the "show full size" magnifying glass and you get roughly 150 kb 800 x 600, i.e. SVGA circa 1995. Decent electronic reproductions of cezanne (or anybody) start at, oh, 4 megapixels. If you enjoy cezanne this is a great starting site, but don't stop here!

(Also, "the complete works"? Really? Did 99% of the drawings turn out to be spurious or something?)


> My thoughts are that he stuck to his method so hard and so consistently that the style
> eventually won people over.

I am not won over by his fondness for dumping a lot of orange in his greens. I wish he had done more watercolors and fewer oils because his WCs are just plain better.
posted by jfuller at 8:53 PM on August 16, 2011

A minimum of colour, a maximum of realism.
posted by Meatafoecure at 10:24 PM on August 16, 2011

If I ever had an apple I wanted to immortalise, he'd be my go to man.
posted by joannemullen at 2:04 AM on August 17, 2011

Odd that you can't view the painting in chronological order. That would seem to be an obvious option to provide.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:53 AM on August 17, 2011

Well, Paul Cézanne is famous now, I think that's really nice
His melons look like footballs, his apples look like dice.
posted by Laminda at 7:16 AM on August 17, 2011

Does Charles Strickland get a website too?
posted by Rashomon at 4:37 PM on August 17, 2011

Does Charles Strickland get a website too?
posted by Rashomon at 4:37 PM on August 17

Whoops, that's Gauguin! Don't post while in the middle of a busy work day....
posted by Rashomon at 4:39 PM on August 17, 2011