Paul Cezanne's Mont Sainte Victoire
Paul Cezanne's oil painting Mont Sainte Victoire was painted in the years 1886-1887. This paper will explore this delightful landscape painting, which is one of the fundamental masterpieces of Impressionism.
First, I will discuss the foreground of the painting. The straight lines framing the canvas are rendered as trees with dark and light shades of green foreshadowed in an enlightening gold. The straight lines of the tree on the left side of the canvas entice one's eyes to travel upward to the hazy blue-white sky. From the sky, dark black lines compete with light and dark shades of green; these lines seem to "branch off" to the middle of the painting, leading the eyes downward. As the lines narrow to the focal point of the painting, which is similar to the right side of the canvas, single dark green arc-like strokes sway the viewer to frame the painting in her mind. The foreground contains a golden triangle at the base of the tree. The apex of the triangle leads the eye to the dark green triangular bush in the foreground, which leads the eyes up to a tree on the right-hand side that branches over to the center of the painting, where the mountain in the background begins to emerge.
Now I will discuss the middle ground of the painting. The middle ground consists of a triangular shape and of the roadway leading back to the focal point. Together with the Roman Aqueduct, which resembles bridge, a triangular shape is forged. It leads the eye back to the mountain.
The background of the painting consists of the focal point - the luscious, golden hued mountain.
Paul Cezanne's Mont Sainte Victoire is an exceptional piece of work that has its roots in realistic landscape painting. At the same time, with Cezanne's masterful line work and heightened color effects, the painting comes across as something truly not of this world.
Bibliography
Martin, David F., and Lee a. Jacobus. The Humanities Through the Arts. 7th ed. New York:
Lisa Moore, 2008. 26-27
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