"Cezanne and Beyond" in Philadelphia
by Laurel Angrist • Mar 3, 2009
Perhaps no other artist has cast such a long shadow across this last century than Paul Cezanne. His far-reaching influence can be traced across five successive generations to artists as diverse and prominent as Jasper Johns, Charles Demuth, Max Beckman and Ellsworth Kelly. Cezanne was for Henri Matisse a “benevolent god of painting” and for Pablo Picasso, “my one and only master.”
Appearing exclusively at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Cezanne and Beyond" explores the artist’s extraordinary legacy, bringing together more than 150 works by Cezanne and 18 other master artists whose work he profoundly inspired. On view through May 17, the exhibition draws important connections between the iconic artist’s achievements and those of other celebrated artists right up through the present day.
As the show suggests, the artist’s influence transcends even the medium of painting. Presenting Cezanne-inspired lightbox photographs by the photographer Jeff Wall, it reveals how Wall’s photographs are in fact a kind of 20th century painting. Like Cezanne’s masterwork “The Card Players” both painting and photograph appear artfully staged.