¶ … Life with Apples," ca. 1893-94. The original work is an oil on canvas, hung in the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. Cezanne painted many still lifes, and many with apples, but this is one of his most interesting and detailed looks at common, everyday objects. Paul Cezanne was born in 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, a small town about fifteen miles north of Marseilles. His family was prosperous, and the boy was well educated. He first studied law, but also began to take lessons at the Drawing Academy of Aix, and found he enjoyed art much more than the law. By 1861, his father allowed him to go to Paris to continue his art studies, and his career as an artist was born. Even his art teacher did not encourage his interest in supporting himself as an artist. He returned for a time to his hometown to work in his father's bank, but continued painting. By 1862, he was back in Paris, and he began to show some of his work (Eitner 422). He struggled for many years before his work began to be accepted, shown, and sold, and he lived off an allowance from his father for many years. His work matured as he grew older, and he became known as a master of the landscape, still life, and portrait. He also began to sell his work, and by the time he died in 1906, he had a strong following and had amassed a large body of work.

When he first began painting, he considered himself a realist, but later, most experts classified him as an Impressionist, and many other Impressionist painters influenced his work, including Pissaro and Renoir. Art historian Lorenz Eitner notes,...

However, by the 1880s, the artist had moved away from Impressionism to a type of Realism or more Classical form of painting. In fact, many experts believe he literally invented a new type of painting. Writer Meyer Shapiro writes, "To accomplish this fusion of nature and self, Cezanne had to create a new method of painting. [ ... ] strokes of high-keyed color which in the Impressionist paintings dissolved objects into atmosphere and sunlight, forming a crust of twinkling points, Cezanne applied to the building of solid forms" (Schapiro 10). Thus, Cezanne is difficult to pin down to one particular art form or style. His work is a blend of several styles, and can be considered a style of its own.
This particular painting is a stunning example of Cezanne's work at the pinnacle of his still-life period. The apples, bottle, and vase were common elements in several of his paintings, and they show the detail and realism that filled this time in his career. As expert Shapiro notes, "The apple looks solid, weighty, and round as it would feel to a blind man" (Schapiro 10). The items appear in a jumble on the table, but there is organization to their seeming chaos. The apples rolling on the table tie the painting together, and the jug, bottle, and vase all harmonize with the rich reds and yellows of the apples. There is a feeling of classic still life in this painting, because of the minute details…