Why did cezanne paint skulls

Perhaps the 'fourth' skull is representative of Cezanne's fear of disappearing into obscurity? Who can say for sure, without word from the man himself? One thing is certain. Cezanne's mother — his greatest supporter and ardent fan — passed away in , just four years before this painting was created.

It is with her death and the encroaching ill-health and aches and pains of age that Cezanne mastered his skittish handling of these symbols of death and began, in his work, to detail the skulls rather than placing them as stylised motifs. The painting is currently in a private collection.

Sugar Skulls are commonly seen during this celebration. Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo two well-known Mexican artists who often included skulls in their artwork. Most commonly, these types of paintings include skulls, rotten fruit, hourglasses, or other items that symbolize death, decay, or time passing. Vanitas is meant to remind viewers of the inevitability of death. It was during this dark time in his life that he painted Pyramid of Skulls.

He also painted other works depicting motifs of death — in both oil and watercolor. The actual skulls he created this painting from are still at his studio in Aix, but the painting itself is in a private collection. Although there are only three skulls in the studio, the painting depicts four. Do you see them all? The artist worked during the Post-Impressionist era, alongside other well-known artists, such as Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

Post-Impressionism was created out of a reaction against Impressionism. While Impressionism grew from artists wanting to create more naturalism and paintings that captured fleeting light e. The Three Skulls ca. Three Skulls on a Patterned Carpet, c. I found myself immediately drawn to the sketch, from the old yellowing paper to the large dark orbitals of the skull itself, I wanted to know about this drawing and the story behind it.

So why focus on a human skull? The skulls in these paintings seem to jump out at the viewer in an almost 3D effect. The sketch of a skull is not linked in any way to his still life works which depict skulls. The sketch itself is dated from the s. He supposedly no longer had a relationship with his best friend Emile Zola and, to top it off, his mother passed away in In France, during this time period, skulls were found in many Catholic homes and churches.

He spoke of a very good painted study that was somewhere in the attic. I wanted to see it. However, I am grateful he did, because they are some of his most spectacular paintings.

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