Expressive Notes {The Basket Of Apples 1895 Paul Cezanne }

Question 1

Composition

Answer 1

1. Cezanne’s painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, contains an asymmetrical composition. An asymmetrical composition has been made possible through the unbalanced arrangement of objects. An example is the scattered apples, held in place only by the painter’s compositional skills, becoming a focal point in the centre of the painting and creating a dynamic impact.
2. In Paul Cezanne’s ‘The Basket of Apples’,, 1895, the grouping of the objects competes for dominance and creates a sense of dynamic tension around the central form of the bottle, with its silhouette leaning from left to right, keeping the composition in a constant state of flux.

Question 2

Media Handling / Technique

Answer 2

1. In Cezanne’s painting ‘The Basket of Apples’ from 1895, he deliberately did not conceal the tools he used to create it. Upon closer inspection, one can observe large brush strokes on every object in the painting. Cezanne’s visible and active brush style adds vitality and movement to the artwork.
2. Cezanne’s ‘The Basket of Apples’ 1895, Paul Cezanne’ painting from 1895 portrayed everyday objects uniquely. Bold brush marks on the table surface and apples create a remarkable impression, challenging one to see beyond what they are already acquainted with.

Question 3

Colour

Answer 3

1. The painting The Basket of Apples, created in 1895, features a remarkable use of complementary colours evident in the apples. The artist used the bold combination of red and green, complementary colours, to create an intense and vibrant effect that makes the fruit appear in motion.
2. Cézanne’s use of color became increasingly vibrant when he moved away from his darker compositions, inspired by his friend Pissarro’s ‘en plein air’ painting. ‘The Basket of Apples’,1895, contains bright, robust, and evident colours. The colour palette is soft in large objects and intense in smaller ones, creating an interaction between all colours, resulting in a harmonious effect.

Question 4

Line and Shape

Answer 4

1. In ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, Cézanne applied bold, confident outlines to create block shapes in his painting. These outlines can be seen obviously in the foreshortened cookies. These bold outlines can cause a perspective that is disjointed and uncertain.
2. In ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, Cézanne applied thick, black outlines around bold, geometric shapes to exaggerate the folds of the tablecloth to create a three-dimensional form. These bold outlines communicate a sense of weight and structure, holding all the apples in place

Question 5

Tone

Answer 5

1. The painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, has an intense contrast in the visual quality of dark and light. The tone of the bottle is very dark, contrasted with one bright highlight, which brings a shiny effect and communicates that the bottle is glass
2. In the painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, deep, dark tones have been applied inside the tilted basket. These dark tones communicate to the viewer that there is a deep void to take a large number of apples, which brings a sense of depth to the object and the painting overall.

Question 6

Texture

Answer 6

1. In the painting ‘The Basket of Apples’ 1895, there are visible diagonal brush marks on the table in the centre of the painting, which tells the viewer it has a naturally rough, bumpy wooden surface.
2. In the painting ‘The Basket of Apples’,1895, there is bold use of waxy,textural impasto brush stroke, which is very prominent in the apples. This waxy texture creates the effect that the fruit is vibrant and in season. This smooth texture also creates a sensation as if the surface of the fruit is moving.

Question 7

Pattern

Answer 7

1.In ‘The Basket of Apples”, 1895, Cézanne has created an organic pattern by consistently repeating the subject of apples in the still life scene. The repetition of the pattern of the apples creates a sensation of depth as they crowd into the tabletop.
2. In ‘The Basket of Apples”, 1895, a pattern is also visible in the bold use of complementary colours repeated in the table scene. The complementary colours red and green being placed side by side in the fruit creates a block-like geometric pattern in the naturally organic shape.

Question 8

Style

Answer 8

1. Cezanne used a stylized method of portraying perspective to incorporate the differences of viewpoint. In the painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, the right side of the table is not on the same plane as the left, creating an impressionist style of still life.
2. Cézanne viewed his subjects as different shapes, which he pieced together to create an overall form. He painted his works slowly by building upon each shape with a new outline. This method of painting gave rise to the idea of cubism, which depicts objects in a new, bold way, bridging the gap between impressionism and cubism.

Question 9

Subject matter/ Imagery

Answer 9

1. Cézanne simplified real life into simple forms, often painting still-life arrangements of everyday objects. In ‘The Basket of Apples’ 1895, he used geometric simplification to depict familiar household items found in the painting: apples, a wine bottle, and a tablecloth.
2. Cézanne struggled with working outdoors. As a result, he painted the same still-life subject matter. An example is the scattered apples in ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895. He found ways to challenge received wisdom and revitalise the old-fashioned genre of still life, making this work very influential.

Question 10

Mood and Atmosphere

Answer 10

1. The painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, is dramatic and uncertain. The brightly lit table scene with the overflowing basket, apples, and tilted glass bottle creates an unstable still-life subject. This disjointed perspective adds to the uncertainty and mood of the painting.
2. In ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, the overall mood of the painting is very positive, bold, and vibrant. This mood is created particularly well in the bright, boldly painted apples. The lively, blocked colours create an illusion of round apples that could roll away. The scattered fruit creates movement and energy, flowing the eye over the central part of the painting, creating unbalanced harmony.

Question 11

Scale

Answer 11

1. The painting shows a different scale of fruits within the table scene. The larger apples compete with smaller apples which creates a sensation of depth as they are overlapped and crowded into the table top.
2. The large scale white tablecloth envelopes the apples on the table and acts as a compositional device (P) which brings a dominating impact to the foreground of the painting (E) and additionally draws the viewer’s eyes to the main focal point in the centre of the painting, the large black glass bottle.

Question 12

Physical Environments and Geography

Answer 12

Cézanne’s interest in working indoors persisted, so he created several still-life paintings of fruit and flowers. This link with his natural environment became increasingly significant as he tried to analyse the setup scene before him rather than copy it as the impressionists did. He painted various versions of ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, from different viewpoints repeatedly, as he felt it was a subject that had so much to give in terms of its simplicity and variety.

Question 13

Influence of Other Artists / Art Movements

Answer 13

Cézanne took inspiration from Courbet, who pioneered the unsentimental treatment of everyday objects. Delacroix’s emphasis on colour over line also greatly impressed Cézanne. This emphasis on colour led him to paint scenes with extreme contrasts of light and shadow and a sense of looseness. In his painting ‘The Basket of Apples’, 1895, this influence is visible as we observe impactful shadows and vibrant fruit.