Trees and Road (Arbres et route)

Discussion

FROM THE BARNES FOUNDATION’S CATALOG

Rather than depicting a recognizable site or a spectacular view, as had been the tradition in French landscape painting, here Cézanne focused on an ordinary tree next to a road. Trees appear frequently in Cézanne's work, sometimes as framing devices for a view into the distance, but more often as the main subject. Scraggly branches reach across this canvas as distant foliage is abstracted into a screen of broad, flat marks. Cézanne probably painted this scene on or near his family's property outside of Aix-en-Provence.

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