Still Life with Plaster Cupid 1895

Paul Cézanne created "Still Life with Plaster Cupid", using oil on canvas. Here, we observe a convergence of classical form and modern disruption. The Cupid, rendered in stark white, anchors the composition, yet it's juxtaposed against freely painted fruits and a geometrically ambiguous backdrop. Cézanne destabilizes traditional still life, not through subject matter, but through form. His brushstrokes are distinct, each a deliberate mark that constructs volume and space, yet resists illusionism. The flattening of perspective, a hallmark of Cézanne's work, challenges Renaissance ideals, pushing the foreground and background into a dynamic tension. The color palette, muted yet vibrant, further complicates spatial relationships, as patches of blues and greens construct a scene where the boundary between object and environment dissolves. This deliberate disruption invites us to question fixed perspectives, revealing how Cézanne challenged conventional modes of seeing, paving the way for abstraction.