Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839. He was one of the most influential painters of early modernism. While in school he received instruction in painting, but at the insistence of his father began the study of law in his home town. Thanks to his friendship with Émile Zola he spent a great deal of time in Paris, and in 1861 he settled there. Rejected by the École des Beaux-Arts, he attended the Académie Suisse, where he got to know Camille Pissarro and came into contact with Claude Monet, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir and Edouard Manet. He attached himself to the Impressionists and showed his work with them. In 1879 he returned to Aix-en-Provence. Success was very slow in coming. In 1895 the art dealer Ambroise Vollard gave him his first solo exhibition in Paris. He exhibited at the Salon d’Automne for the first time in 1903. Widespread recognition came only after his death in Aix-en-Provence in 1906.
