From July 2020, the Royal Academy of Arts will host a selective exhibition of Cézanne’s rock and quarry paintings, the first devoted exclusively to this subject.
Cézanne was fascinated with geology and throughout his career sought sites characterised by rocky terrain: the Forest of Fontainebleau forty miles to the southeast of Paris; the cliffs at the bay of L’Estaque west of Marseilles; and in his native Aix-en-Provence, the rock-strewn grounds of the nearby Chateau Noir and the abandoned Bibémus quarry.
Groups of closely related works will present Cézanne’s exploration of these different sites over time. Particularly resonant are the later Provençal views of the Château-Noir and the Bibémus quarry. Devoid of human presence, these deserted sites that show the artist at his farthest reach from civilisation are silent and passionate meditations on landscape and the passage of time.
This exhibition is organised by the Princeton University Art Museum, in association with the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 0BD