The appearance of the late period work has perplexed scholars for decades because of its radicalism and seemingly instantaneous development. In attempting to characterize the change, previous scholars have pinned the change on numerous other events. According to Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmeyer’s Cezanne in Provence, the change in style, which occurred between 1899-1902, can find its roots in Cézanne’s love of geology, paleontology and his affiliation with the scientist, Antoine-Fortuné Marion (shown at left). She contends that Cézanne’s exposure to geological formations in Provence as well as flint tools with their hard edges and sharp contours produced the geometric looking color formations. The problem with this explanation is that Marion exposed Cézanne to these geological formations and archeological finds in the 1860’s, long before Cézanne’s style switch. How did thos experiences accumulate then suddenly burst forth in such a short time long after the initial exposure? Other scholars like John Rewald and Novotny have put forth the most common and generally accepted theory. They ascribe the change to Cézanne’s failing health due to his deteriorating case of diabetes (Rewald, 290). This explanation, to which even Conisbee, who paraphrased Cézanne’s feelings about his color patches, adheres, however fails when we look at Cézanne’s illness’ progression. In Rewald’s biography of the painter, he claims that Cézanne’s “physical condition deteriorated considerably throughout 1906”, but up until then, Cézanne’s diabetes was not very consequential on the artist’s painting (Rewald, 254). How then did the illness create the sudden change seen in 1902? What all these scholars fail to identify is why color modeling appeared so suddenly. None give a sufficient event that suddenly flooded the canvas with what Novotny calls “turbulent, ecstatic views of Mount Saint-Victoire” (Novotny, 111).
Cézanne, Paul. Mount Saint-Victoire Seen from Les Lauves (V. 802), 1904-1906, oil on canvas. Private Collection, Switzerland.