Cézanne / Renoir

Fifty masterpieces trace the life and work of the two masters who contributed decisively to the birth of Impressionism and influenced future generations of artists

Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) and Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) assert themselves as two great masters of French painting during the last quarter of the 19th century and the very beginning of the 20th century. From the impressionist melting pot of their beginnings to the age of maturity, the two men have never ceased to trace a singular trajectory, expressing themselves in different styles, rigor and geometry for Cézanne and rounded harmony for Renoir, with nevertheless many crossing points between the two works. From the 1860s in Paris, the two men forged a lasting friendship mixed with great mutual admiration and during the 1980s and 1990s they made several stays together in the South of France: landscapes, still lifes, portraits of their entourage or even nudes up to the great late bathers constitute common fields of experimentation for the two painters. The observation of the model and nature, combined with the aspiration to release a timeless essence of their subject, allows them to embody a form of classic modernity. Cézanne Renoir presents about fifty masterpieces by the two painters from the collections of the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris (brought together by the art dealer Paul Guillaume and his wife) and the Musée d'Orsay, tracing their life and work.