The Philadelphia Art Museum's Cézanne Exhibition: "Cézanne and Beyond" attempts something similar to the wine pairings sometimes available in restaurants.
The exhibition starts off with Cézanne's "Turn in the Road" which bridges the scope and scale of something like the Mont Sainte Victoire landscapes and his Still Lives with the fruit and rugose tablecloths. By choosing to paint a mere "Turn in the Road", Cézanne invites one's gaze to pause and take stock. Although painted outside, lover and painter happens upon an intimate moment of simplicity. Browns and greens stay in concert to add a feeling of warmth, woolyness and mystery to this walled-off corner of the world.
Following this pairing logic, we can loosely follow up with "Shaft of Sunlight, Woods of Trivaux" by Matisse which geometrically deconstructs the presumed woodland clearing into shards of perspective resulting in a breathtaking assemblage of woodland greens, shadowy cast-off and white cliffs of drama. Here we have one of those overlooked atavistic corners of nature.
While still in this corner of the palette, "The Pont de Maincy" is right at home with the previous paintings in this post. Cézanne really outdoes himself here. If you try to control your breathing a little and apply some focus. you can really get into the picture. The moist moss will be at your feet, the background rustic warehouse will begin to form through the foilage and you will wonder what is inside.
