Cézanne: Portraits of a Life
Known primarily as a painter of still lifes and landscapes, Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) also created a remarkable number of portraits, which provide the gateway to his life and art in this documentary. It’s based on the first portrait-focused Cézanne retrospective, at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2017 (later traveling to Paris and Washington, D.C.), and the 50-plus paintings prove a fascinating study in the artist’s vision and development.
Unlike the two most recent other artists in the Exhibition on Screen documentary series — Leonard da Vinci and Lucien Freud — this painter’s life offers little drama, leaving director Phil Grabsky with just Cézanne’s occasional money problems and one illegitimate son out of which to weave a narrative. There’s a reason Cézanne is not a subject of any major biopics — with the possible exception of Cézanne and I, a 2017 film that spiced things up by focusing equally on the painter’s boyhood friend, writer Émile Zola, who courted much more controversy.
Cézanne’s letters to Zola are a significant source for Portraits of a Life, along with the painter’s other correspondence, read with feeling by actor Brian Cox. But the great passions they reveal are chiefly about his art, appropriately enough.
Perhaps the most important figure to bridge the Impressionists, who came before him, with the 20th century modernists, such as Picasso, whom he inspired, Cézanne was nevertheless a rather open book artistically — it’s all right there on the canvas, the distinctive brush strokes, slightly off-kilter compositions, and juxtaposed curls of color. The experts here do their best to explain how and why this seemingly simple style works so magically, but the paintings themselves speak the loudest.
Of course, the whole point of the Exhibition on Screen series is to highlight the works, and to give those of us unable to attend the actual shows long, close looks at the paintings. Combined with the biographical commentary, correspondence in voiceover, historic photos, and lovely photography of the places Cézanne lived and worked — Aix-en-Provence and Paris — Portraits of a Life is a complete package for art lovers. The cost of streaming the film is just a fraction of what admission to the exhibitions would have cost, and you can sit home and sip wine and even eat a pear or two while browsing, without any museum guards to stop you.
Grade: B-plus. Not rated but PG equivalent. Available May 15-21 from the Fine Arts Theatre’s Virtual Cinema screening program.
(Photo: The cover of the catalog for the Cezanne show at the National Portrait Gallery in London)
