"How to present the immense genius of Paul Cézanne, this complex artist, solitary, uncompromising, father of modernity ... He is the one who paints, summarized, quite simply, Maurice Denis... Since the end of the 19th century, many have sought to communicate their own understanding of the "myth" of Cézanne.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty knew, better than anyone else, how to show the measure of the accuracy, the distinction, the strength of Paul Cézanne." Françoise Cachin, former director of the Museums of France.
Since 1931, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux has published art history texts to accompany the exhibitions it organizes. The reader will find here a text published in 1974, on the occasion of the exhibition "Cézanne" which took place that year at the Musée de l'Orangerie. We have chosen to associate it with the discovery of the artist's works conserved in the museums of France.
