Atelier de Cézanne

The Atelier de Cézanne is the studio where Paul Cézanne worked in the last years of his life, and it stands on a hillside on the northern edge of Aix-en-Provence, at a place called Les Lauves, about a kilometre and a half from the old town. Cézanne, who was born in Aix in 1839 and spent most of his life between Paris and Provence, had the studio built in 1901 on a plot of land he bought on the hill. It was designed for painting large canvases, with a tall north-facing window that let in a steady, even light, and a long slot in the wall to let him move big paintings in and out. He worked here almost every day until October 1906, when he caught a chill while painting outdoors and died a few days later.

After his death the studio was left for years, and it was bought in 1952 by a group of admirers, among them the American writer James Lord, who saved it from demolition. It was handed to the University of Aix-Marseille and opened to the public as a museum in 1954. The remarkable thing about the visit is that the room has been kept as he left it, or as near as can be arranged. The visitor sees his easel, his palette and brushes, his hat, his coat hanging on a hook, and the furniture. On the shelves and tables are the objects that he painted again and again in his still lifes, such as jugs, bottles, a skull, a plaster cupid, fruit bowls and a green vase, and the choice of such simple things shows how he thought about form and colour. The atmosphere is quiet, and the studio gives a direct sense of the painter at work.

The garden around the studio, with its olive trees and shady paths, adds to the visit. The hill gives views over the countryside to the Montagne Sainte-Victoire, the mountain east of Aix that Cézanne painted more than eighty times, and the area around the studio, with the road to the Lauves, is a good place to walk along the paths he took. His late series of paintings of the Bathers and the last views of the mountain were painted in the studio and its surroundings. The museum offers guided tours with French-speaking guides, audio guides and private tours, and a visit typically lasts about half an hour, so it combines well with other Cézanne sites in the area, such as the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan, the family home where he painted for many years, and the Granet museum in the town. Opening arrangements vary through the year, and some Cézanne sites are open only in certain months, so check the schedule before you go.

The studio is not in the historic centre but a short walk or bus ride away. In the old town, the Cours Mirabeau and the café Les Deux Garçons, where Cézanne and his friend Émile Zola once met, are part of the same story, and the Fontaine de la Rotonde, the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur and the Quartier Mazarin are close. The studio suits art lovers and anyone who wants to see where a great painter worked.