Cezanne vs. Zurbaran

Cezanne vs. Zurbaran

Cezanne vs. Zurbaran

Part 1

Paul Cézanne's Jug and Fruit and Francisco De Zurbaran's Still life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose are both oil on canvass and both are classical still life genre paintings. Even though both these paintings are still life there are many differences between the two pieces of work. Cézanne's jug and fruit creation has intensely coloured forms using a wide range of colours from the palette.

Warm colors seem to advance from the centre area of the picture plain. Beautiful and rich shades of red, yellow, orange with cool blues being used in receded areas to give a three dimensional depth. The simple subject matter of Cézanne's painting is loose and free in style. Like it has been produced without any constraints or strict boundaries. The deliberate way in which the transparent background has been painted gives an impression of depth but also as if the objects on the table are floating in the sky. The light on the jug and fruit appears to be coming from an elevated central position behind the artist. Cézanne's mature work develops a more solidified style of painting giving texture to the paint even using his fingers I suspect to achieve this effect (www.paul-cezanne.org).

Zurbaran's Still life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose is a fine example of realism. I think most people would agree with this. I'm not trying to say that Cézanne did not try to achieve this with his still life but that Cézanne's painting would have been created from his own mind and not set up in a dimly lit studio. Composition of Zurbaran's picture is of a fine style but is also restrained on colour compared to Cézanne's free style palette. Zurbarán is best known for his numerous paintings of saints in which he ...