Reviews for Paul Cezanne: A Painter's Journey

The average rating for Paul Cezanne: A Painter's Journey based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-11-09 00:00:00 Bryan Scott Robert Burleigh's book Paul Cezanne A Painter's Journey is a wonderful introduction to the artist; but more significantly, it is an introduction to a way of thinking about painting. This book combines biographical information, photographs of Cezanne's family and studio, reproductions of many paintings, and quotations from Cezanne. Woven into this mix, the author provides thoughtful and specific commentary and analysis of Cezanne's work so a reader can understand how he developed as a painter and why he made certain artistic choices to produce particular feelings and/or effects. By reading Burleigh's commentaries and comparing his interpretations to the actual paintings, a person can learn to "read" one of his paintings, paying attention to certain structural choices like point of view, light/dark, and shading, the slight differences in color chosen by a painter. Because Burleigh's commentaries ask readers to study and to think about the painting beyond an initial emotional response, the book's text requires an older reader. To absorb thoughtfully the artistic lessons of the biography, children need to be able to understand and to apply these lessons. This volume would be an excellent choice for a middle-school art teacher to begin to instruct students in how to interpret paintings. Even a high school art teacher would find this book instructive. Yet, the book begins with a series of questions that emphasis the difficult artistic journey of Cezanne. His family did not support his choice to pursue painting, he received little recognition during his life, and he worked largely in isolation. In this way, the teacher of younger children can use the volume to teach lessons about persistence and adherence to one's dream. Cezanne stuck to his singular vision and became a hero to both Impressionists and Post-Impressionist painters as a result. He believed passionately in his vision. Younger students can easily understand this message and can look at and "read" at their level the many paintings included in this biography. Burleigh has created a book that has something for many age groups and includes a short bibliography for the adult or child reader who wants to know more about Cezanne. Burleigh evidently has written other biographies about famous artists. Based on this book, I would recommend looking at his other work.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-08-19 00:00:00 Kevin Lyons Written and marketed for children, there's no reason why anyone can't enjoy the beautiful pictures with concise and informative narrative. He's also written similar books on Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec. After some research, I discovered he is a prolific writer of children's literature.