Pyramid of skulls 1900

Editor: This is Paul Cézanne’s "Pyramid of Skulls," painted around 1900. It's an oil painting, and there's something incredibly unsettling yet compelling about the composition. I am particularly struck by the use of light. What’s your take on this piece? Curator: Unsettling, yes, but wonderfully so. Cézanne isn't just painting skulls; he is meditating on mortality, almost playing with it. I find the impasto, that thick application of paint, brings them to life in a strange way. It's not just still life; it’s "still life" with a wink. Editor: A wink? I hadn’t thought of it that way. It seems more solemn. Curator: Perhaps. But I like to imagine Cézanne with a glint in his eye, considering our inevitable end with a degree of acceptance. This piece links into a long artistic tradition of ‘Vanitas’ paintings - artworks designed to remind the viewer of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. What do you make of the perspective? It’s not exactly academic, is it? Editor: It's skewed, isn’t it? Almost like he's inviting us to arrange the skulls ourselves. Curator: Exactly! It feels incredibly intimate, as though we’ve stumbled upon Cézanne's private contemplation. Do you get the sense of how radical it was for its time? Most were painting pretty portraits and landscapes. Cézanne…stacks skulls. Editor: I see what you mean! It’s provocative, even now. I initially found it morbid, but now it does have a certain playful energy. Curator: Indeed! A reminder that even in darkness, there's a flicker of something, perhaps humor, perhaps hope. The Post-Impressionists sought that something; here, it flickers between the teeth of skulls. Editor: This has completely shifted my perspective! I'll never look at a skull the same way again. Curator: Wonderful! Isn’t it incredible how art can rattle our bones and tickle our funny bone at the same time?