Cézanne – Portrait of His Son

This painting is Paul Cézanne's portrait of his only son, Paul. Cézanne adored the boy, and his sketchbooks reportedly contain many drawings of his son asleep. The bold, photograph-like composition — cropped tightly to the upper body — was unusual for its time, suggesting the painter's wish to study his son from the closest possible vantage point.

The face, clothing, and chair are all rendered with crisp, defined outlines, reflecting the new pictorial approach Cézanne was exploring in the 1880s, one that recalls Gauguin's style. The sharp contrast between the boy's gray clothing and the teal background heightens his presence on the canvas, while the brushwork is noticeably softer than the rough strokes of Cézanne's earlier work. For an artist usually more absorbed in form than subject, his beloved son was the exception.