Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Paul Cezanne Modern Olympia' - 2,612 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Paul Cezanne's 'A Modern Olympia' Introduction Paul Cezanne's oil on canvas painting of 'A Modern Olympia' is a 46 by 55. 5 cm. canvas of 1873 - 74. The theme of abduction and rape is one that is repeated in Cezanne's work as in his 'Abduction' of 1867, and after all this purports to be a painting of a slave in a harem. It is a variation of Manet's earlier work of 1863, which established Manet as an artist. People claimed to be shocked by Manet's portrait, but nevertheless flocked to see it in the salon of 1865.

It may be that the title 'A modern Olympia' was trying to say that Manet's style was dated and here was a painting more suited to the times. It was first exhibited at the Impressionist's show of 1874. This exhibition, where Cezanne showed three pictures, was in the Boulevard des Capucines, and was open for a month from mid-April to mid May. Cezanne sold his 'House of the Hanged Man' for which he received 300 frances. Many other exhibitors seem to have priced their works rather too highly, though 3, 600 francs of sales were made. Despite this the exhibition was a commercial failure and records of the time show that Cezanne still had to borrow money from his father so that he could pay his debts.

In order that it could be seen by people of all classes the show was open not only during the day, but also in the late evening so that working people could attend. The purpose of the exhibition was not to portray a new artistic movement, but simply to allow artists whose work had not been included in the official Salon to show and sell their works without a jury pre-judging them or any state intervention. In Cezanne's case he is seated in the brothel or harem staring at an odalisque whose maid is lifting the cloth from her crouched body. The word odalisque, which is how the woman is usually described, is defined as a female slave or concubine in a harem.

Apart from the figure of the artist, his hat and a small dog, the picture is full of bright shades, many of them light. The girl seems to almost float in the center of the canvas, yet she is obviously meant to be on a bed. This bed cuts off the lower half of the maids body. Drink, food, flowers and draperies are in abundance no cheap 1 brothel this. Manet's work may have been a tribute to an earlier artist Ingres had painted 'Sleeping Odalisque' in 1829. There are links to to Titan's painting 'The Venus of Urbino' circa 1538 which is very close in composition to that of Manet, and has the lap dog as featured in Cezanne's work.

Titian, 'The Venus of Urbino' What the critic said. Parisian art critic of the time said: - A woman folded in two from whom a Negro girl is removing the last veil in order to offer her in all her ugliness to the charmed gaze of a brown puppet. Do you remember the Olympia of M. Manet?

Well that was a masterpiece of drawing, accuracy, and finish compared to the one by M. Cezanne' Leroy in 'Charivari' Manet himself said 'How can you abide such foul painting. ' The Impressionists in Context page 318 Comparison with similar works In the case of Manet and Cezanne the title was similar, as was the subject matter, but the style was totally different. Manet's piece is much closer that of Titian. There is a dark background, a richly colored couch draped in white. Both ladies have their hands in similar positions covering their sexual organs and wear bracelets. Cezanne's model on the other hand is very undefined.

Her features are impossible to discern and she is in the distance and at a different angle. The impression is of a shop with goods for sale and a gentleman choosing. Cezanne's biography 2 David Crystal describes Cezanne as a post-impressionist painter in the Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia. Others would class him differently. He did after all exhibit with the Impressionists in 1874 and 1875, though he never wholly agreed with their motives or techniques and has been called a fore-runner of Cubism.

In 1914 Clive Bell described him as 'the Christopher Columbus of a new continent of form. ' Like many of the artists in Paris towards the end of the 19 th century Cezanne was of middle class and conservative stock, being the son of a prosperous banker, born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839. He was not a bright pupil at school, but went on to study art at the Ecole Specialize et Gratuite de Dessin for 5 years from 1857. He studied law and worked in his father 's bank, but all he wanted to do was paint. He seems to have bee a very nervous and inhibited young man. Then Zola, a school companion introduced Cezanne to Manet, Pissarro, Degas and Courier and persuaded him to study art in the capital, Paris. He enrolled at the Academie Suisse but was always at odds with the others in the group to some degree, being less interested in their ideas about the need to capture the immediacy of the moment.

He was more concerned with an analytical look at the structure of nature. He sought 'to make Impressionism more solid and enduring, like the art of the old masters' page 318, 'The Impressionists in Context'. He realized that nothing exists in isolation, but that each object had color, weight and mass that affected the things around it. He was so interested in the actual painting rather than the completed work that his wife had often to rescue works that he had abandoned as soon as they were completed. In 1886, when he finally became independent of his father financially, inheriting a quarter of the fortune of 1. 6 million francs that had been amassed he began to really emphasize the basic shapes of nature the cylinder, the cone and the sphere. His pictures began to be constructed from a series of colored planes and were concerned more with form than color.

He wrote a letter to the critic Emile Bernard explaining his ideas- Treat nature by the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything in proper perspective so that each side of the object or a plane is directed towards a central point' page 318 'The Impressionists in Context', Kats and Dars 3 He received very little encouragement from his fellow artists because his ideas were so removed from theirs. He was consistently refused by the official salon. The few pieces he did succeed in selling were exhibited in the shop of the color merchant Pere Tanguy where Van Gogh also placed his works. Pissarro persuaded his patron Chocquet to see the pictures and he was to become an important buyer, collecting many works by Cezanne over the years. In 1886 Cezanne was portrayed by Zola as a failed painter who commits suicide in his novel 'L'Oeuvre' There was a cooling of their friendship and in 1896 Zola was to describe his schoolfellow as a genius who never matured.

In 1887 he exhibited for the first alongside Van Gogh and Gain in an avant garde exhibition entitled 'Les Vingt' because there were originally 20 members. Eventually he withdrew to Aix-en-Province, where he worked almost unseen until given a one-man exhibition by Vollard, an art dealer, in 1895. This fact of an exhibition all by himself emphasizes how alone Cezanne was in his working life In his latter years younger artists became enamored with his ideas. In 1904 he was a given a special exhibition at the autumn Salon. Following his death in 1906 his fame has increased and his art ever more appreciated. In October 2006 the anniversary of his death was celebrated though the reporter conceded that Aix had been very slow to appreciate the artist though nowadays there is a statue, tours by coach or walking to more than 40 sites in the town associated in some way with the artist, though much of his work was based in the surrounding countryside rather than in the town itself...

Not so during his lifetime, though a year after his death 50 of his pictures were included in the Salon's autumn exhibition. His art was so new and exaggeratedly simple that people laughed at it. It was derided as childish. They hung it above doors in the inside of galleries so it could not be seen, and he rarely painted in the town center for fear of ridicule. Kevin Pilley in Mature Times, 1 st October, 2006 How did Cezanne fit into the artistic world of France in the late 19 th century? Cezanne did not really fit into any group, or if he did it was only for short periods.

He 4 was introduced to Manet, but found himself at odds with him. Manet was known for his realist pictures of traditional themes. These caused scandal in their time, though they certainly drew the crowds. Cezanne was influenced by Pissarro and worked with him for 2 years in 1872 and 3.

He has been described as an Impressionist, a Neo-Impressionist, a Post- Impressionist and the forerunner of Cubism. The book 'The Impressionists in Context', has him in a chapter entitled 'After the Impressionists'. He exhibited both with the Impressionist's and later with Picasso. The artists of the period were never a co-ordinated movement as such. They were simply a group of artists working in France at the time. The nation had suffered in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and there had been civil the following year in the Commune Impressionists were an uplifting force as often they portrayed the advantages of modern life, the beauty of nature or the pleasure of leisure time with friends...

Some painted almost exclusively landscapes, others being more concerned with interiors and portraits, while a third group mixed these styles. Degas was concerned mainly with mammalian form whether in the shape of dancers or racehorses. They came together for the purpose of showing their works in exhibitions. Techniques generally considered to be part of Impressionism were not practiced by the whole group or even by particular artists for the whole of their career. Their first exhibition was held in the photographic studios of M. Near.

At this time they titled themselves as 'Societe Anonyme des Artistes Pientres, Sculpture, Graveurs', a limited liability company open to anyone willing to pay 60 francs per year. All members took part in the election of the 15 members of the committee. A commission of 10 % was levied in order to meet expenses. The works were exhibited in alphabetical order according to the artist's name and according to size. Renoir chaired the committee and it was he would did most of the work. Of the 165 works in this first exhibition it was a picture by Monet entitled 'Impression Soleil Levant' though it seems possible that it was in fact a sunset - that caused critic Leroy to name the group 'Impressionists', a name the group took up as it reflected, in one sense at least, the aims of the group.

Monet it seems almost certain, had during a visit to London, seen works by Turner at the National Gallery, which strongly influenced him, as can be seen by his works of the time such as his picture of Waterloo bridge in the fog. 5 They sought to capture modern life in an instantaneous way though it must be admitted that some made quick sketches out of doors and later worked these up in a studio - as in Monet's 'Dejeuner sur l'herbe', for which one of his friends later posed for three of the figures. Not all artists in this rather loose group exhibited at all the Impressionist exhibitions and some artists not considered part of the group nevertheless exhibited with them. Although Cezanne was in close contact with the main group during the 1870 's his aims were different. He wanted to record rather the relationships between the permanent parts of the scene rather than the transitional factors such as light and color. This concern with structure was fundamentally in opposition to the priorities of the majority. He was concerned with forms which he reduced to their geometric basics. - The Influence of Technology ' Olympia' by Manet 'A modern Olympia' by Cezanne 6 Like all of us, these artists were men and women of their time.

A time of great technological change. The railways expanded considerably during their lifetimes for instance, making the whole of France their studio. In the 1840 's malleable paint in tubes became available as did new colors. These meant that artists found it much easier to work out of doors. Previously artists had often made their own paints, using pestle and mortar and stored them in bladders. They were released from their studios.

Another innovation was the camera. It's ability to capture a scene in an instant influenced the ideas of the artists of the time. It led to an avoidance of the appearance of formal composition, almost as if a camera had taken a picture by accident, capturing the scene exactly as it happened. Yet this impression of accidental meeting of artist and scene was planned. Degas for instance painted from sketches made earlier and Manet never painted out of doors. Often though the artists tried to capture the scene as quickly as possible, before the light conditions altered.

This desire to paint out of doors had been begun by the Barbizon school of the 1840 's, which was based around the Forest of Fontainebleau. Some members of the group, such as Monet were more concerned than others with this effort to capture light and atmosphere rather than exact forms, the things that remain once the light had faded and the weather altered. Conclusion Cezanne spent his life at odds with society, but the fact that the art he produced was 7 rather different to much of the art of his day does not necessarily make him a bad artist, not does it mean that his ideas were of little value. We have hindsight perhaps and can judge him against not just the art of his day, but what came later - Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso and all the rest. He did not stick to one style, but looking at his work as a whole we can now see its gradual development. He lived more than a hundred years ago, but his work still has impact in our modern world.

He produced a huge volume of work and is now exhibited in the National and Tate Galleries of London and in the Metropolitan museum of New York. Would he have been surprised? I think so. Would he feel that he had been vindicated? I hope so. Bibliography Books Crystal, David, (1994) The Cambridge Biographical Dictionary, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England Denver, Bernard (1993) The Chronicle of Impressionism, Thames and Hudson, London Katz, Robert and Dars, Celestine (1991) The Impressionists in Context, Abbeydale, Leicestershire Magnussun, Magnus editor, (1995) Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers, Edinburgh Osbourne, Harold, editor (1970) The Oxford Companion to Art, Oxford University Press Electronic Sources Bell, Clive 'Art' found at web retrieved 3 rd December, 2006 Paul Cezanne: Early work, from Web Museum, Paris, found at http// web and retrieved 4 th December 2006 Pilley, Kevin, 'France celebrates the father of modern art' 'Mature Times', found at web retrieved 4 th December 2006 Titian 'The Venus of Urbino' The Archive' found at web retrieved 3 rd December 2006


Free research essays on topics related to: modern life, biographical dictionary, 19 th century, van gogh, paul cezanne

Research essay sample on Paul Cezanne Modern Olympia

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com