A centennial celebration of Cezanne: the innovative pioneer, renowned in his lifetime as "The Master of Aix," died 100 years ago "on the eve of a revolution in art that his work had firmly set in motion.".

• Position: Museums Today

PROVENCE NURTURED the life and art of Paul Cezanne like no other place. In the distinctive countryside around his native Aix-en-Provence. he found the motifs--rich in natural beauty but also in emotive associations--that have since become synonymous with his art. Cezanne created some of his most compelling images in the solitude of Provence. They include not only landscapes painted outdoors, sur le motif (before the motif), but portraits, still lifes, and imaginary scenes of bathers that he executed in the studios he occupied in and around Aix.

The Master of Aix, as Cezanne came to be known during his lifetime, drew on his birthplace for the inspiration that set him on his path as an artist. Indeed, Provence was at the center of an emotionally charged body of art influenced not only by romanticism and realism, but by the enduring legacy of the classical past. By the time of his death in 1906, Cezanne widely was regarded as a pivotal figure in the development of modern art. having paved the way for the crucial shift in artistic vision that began in the late 19th century and culminated in the breakthroughs of artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso in the 20th.

Along the way, he participated in the Impressionist movement, yet never entirely aligned his own pictorial concerns with its optical aesthetic. Instead, he developed a more rigorous, structured composition and more intense, saturated color, which were to influence succeeding generations of painters. Throughout the sometimes arduous progression of Cezanne's career, Provence--more specifically, the countryside around his birthplace--remained a constant inspiration in his struggle to master the means of his artistic expression. Other artists had come to paint the Provencal landscape before him, but Cezanne made this corner of Provence uniquely his own, adopting motifs and views that convey a powerful sense of place.

Cezanne was born in 1839 and raised in Aix, a sleepy provincial town that once had been the capital of Provence; its history dating back to Roman times. He was the eldest of three children of Elisabeth Aubert, a doting mother, and Louis-Auguste Cezanne, an authoritarian father with whom he had a turbulent relationship. Cezanne studied at the local College Bourbon. where he distinguished himself in many areas, especially the classics. There he struck up a decades-long friendship with fellow student and future novelist Emile Zola. The two, along with a third companion, Baptistin Baille, regularly explored the nearby countryside, swimming in rivers, clambering along rocky canyons, and resting under the shade of tall pines. This youthful experience forged an affective bond with the Provencal landscape that resonated in Cezanne's work throughout his career.

Upon the completion of his schooling, Cezanne entered law school at the behest of his father, a businessman-turned-banker who had amassed enough of a fortune to bring the family into the world of genteel living and who desired that his son choose a respectable profession. Yet, Cezanne soon abandoned his law studies to devote himself to art. He went to Paris in 1861 to meet up with Zola, who had urged him to trade the stifling atmosphere of Aix for the museums, art academies, and companionship of progressive artists of the capital. Cezanne learned how to paint in Paris; however, he never adopted the city as his own. From the beginning, he returned repeatedly to Provence, finding solace and inspiration in its familiar countryside. Eventually, in the 1880s, he resettled there for good, making only short trips outside the region until his death.

One of the most significant...