Cézanne, Masters, and Me - Paperback

by Chao-Liang Calvin Yu (Author)

During the beginning of the 20th century, the possible connection between Paul Cézanne's art and Henri Bergson's philosophy was once a legend. However nowadays, few people mention this anymore.

When our protagonist left his former career and returned to school in the 1990s, he fell into the world of art. While studying Western art theory, he was fascinated by the parallels between Bergson and the art he researched. Our main character followed the spiritual guidance of Cézanne and his successors, Matisse and Picasso, and devoted himself to tracing the prospect of this century-old legend.

Through many struggles and endless toil, he resolved the mystery in Cézanne's various paintings (e.g., cardplayers, smokers, still-lifes, mountains, portraits, bathers, etc.). He rediscovered Cézanne's paintings in detail and found that Cézanne incorporated three Bergsonian figures (vertical and horizontal lines, cone, and shell) as the composition in two of his famous paintings. Moreover, Cézanne skillfully embedded Bergson's initials, H.B., in these paintings. He has found the undeniable linkage.

This book covers the many predecessors and masters over the past centuries whose collective efforts have led to wonderful artistic discovery. Despite feeling like a child onlooker, our protagonist was honored to participate.