L'Estaque: View of the Bay of Marseilles by Paul Cezanne

L'Estaque: View of the Bay of Marseilles by Paul Cézanne was completed between 1878 and 1879, and depicts L'Estaque, a small coastal village on the Mediterranean to the west of Marseilles. Cézanne's mother owned a house there, and the painter visited several times to paint views of the bay. Cézanne deliberately flattened the planes of the panoramic landscape in L'Estaque: View of the Bay of Marseilles; noting that the blinding illumination of the sun reduced all forms to silhouettes, Cézanne presented the features of the view as simple forms.

L'Estaque: View of the Bay of Marseilles by Paul Cezanne (oil on canvas, 21-7/8x28-3/4 inches) is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Like all artists, Paul Cézanne found himself returning to certain scenes and images. On the next page we'll examine a painting that shares its subject with several others that Cézanne completed over the years.

For more on Impressionist paintings, artists, and art history, see:

• Impressionism
• Vincent van Gogh
• Claude Monet