Forest 1890

Paul Cézanne’s "Forest", painted with oil on canvas, presents us with a grove of trees, yet these are no ordinary trees. The dominant motif is the reaching branches, which in art history, have often symbolized connection between the earthly and the divine. Recall images of the Tree of Life, an ancient symbol appearing in cultures from Mesopotamia to the Nordic lands, representing cosmic order and spiritual ascent. In the ancient world, trees were sanctuaries, sites of oracular pronouncements. Even into modernity, we see Yggdrasil, the Norse world tree, connecting realms of gods and humans. Cézanne's trees, with their gnarled, reaching limbs, evoke a sense of striving, not just upward towards the light, but perhaps towards some form of higher understanding or connection to the sublime. Notice how the brushstrokes are applied in discrete, almost architectural patches. The effect is to convey a feeling of profound, subconscious connection to nature, echoing through time. Thus, the symbol of the tree, deeply rooted in human culture and psyche, continues to grow and evolve, re-emerging in new forms, constantly renewing our connection to the past.