Paul Cézanne

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), whose work profoundly influenced modern art, is revealed here in all his sensitivity and complexity. With over one hundred letters to Zola and others, poems and photographs.


“In this biography, admirable from beginning to end, Paul Cézanne is at last brought convincingly to life... Gerstle Mack has produced a full-length portrait [...] likely to prove, all in all, the most sympathetic, unbiased and complete picture of the extraordinary ‘hermit of Aix’ that we shall ever have... to read Mr. Mack’s beautifully coordinated narrative is sheer pleasure... With what amounts virtually to a novelist’s grasp of the whole situation, Mr. Mack causes Cézanne’s friends — those who played in any measure a significant part in his life — to come alive along with him... Gerstle Mack, in preparing this exceptionally fine biography of Cézanne, has assembled the existing material, weighed it with discriminating judgment, and woven the strands together to form a portrait that seems irradiated with truth...the life of Paul Cézanne as reconstructed by Mr. Mack is extraordinarily full and satisfying. It is a deft, engrossing, revelatory piece of work.” — Edward Arden Jewell, The New York Times (October 13, 1935)


“The best biography [of Paul Cézanne] in English.” — John Rewald, The History of Impressionism


“A thorough, dependable biography... It will remain the one indispensable source for those who undertake to interpret the modern master.” — The Nation


“[Gerstle Mack] gives an excellent account of the impressionist movement... while his discussion of Cézanne’s painting is always lucid.” — London Times Literary Supplement


“Mr. Mack’s chief reward is likely to come in finding that his work has set a date in our understanding of Cézanne’s real part in the history of modern painting.” — The New Republic


“Definitive life of the painter who probably influenced modern art more than any man of his time... An important book for anyone interested in the history of art.” — Kirkus Reviews