AIX-EN-PROVENCE.- Starting in June 2025, the City of Aix-en-Provence is organising a major event celebrating the painter Paul Cezanne, who was born and died in this city, as well as the landscapes and mountain he made famous through his paintings, and which served as the backdrop to his life.

Although Cezanne divided his time between his hometown and Paris, he always returned to Aix-en-Provence, drawn by the unique light of its countryside and his emotional connection to his birthplace.

As part of its preparations for Cezanne 2025, the City of Aix-en-Provence has begun the phased restoration of Jas de Bouffan, the mansion or country house bought by the artist’s father in 1859, which it plans to open permanently to the public.

Situated on the western outskirts of the city centre, the mansion was more than a family home to Cezanne, who was forced to sell the property in 1899. It was also where, at the age of 20, he produced his earliest paintings, some recently found in the ‘Grand Salon’, and where his father set up a studio for him on the second floor, lit by a large skylight, where he painted his most celebrated masterpieces.

He spent four decades in his family home, surrounded by fifteen hectares of vineyards and orchards, and it was here that he produced his still lifes, paintings of card players and bathers, portraits and self-portraits, many of which will be featured in a major exhibition at the Musée Granet from 28 June to 12 October 2025.

Over 100 works, including oils on canvas, drawings and watercolours, will explore the connection between the artist and his restored family home, still set in nearly five hectares of virtually unaltered parkland.

These priceless works have been loaned from collections around the world, including the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and museums in Basel, Chicago, Harvard, London, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, Tokyo and Zurich.

Visitors can start their tour in the artist’s partly restored family home and its gardens and even stand where he painted some of his works. They can then move on to the galleries of the Musée Granet to admire many of the pieces he produced at Jas de Bouffan. Their subjects include the house’s ‘residents’, the estate, the chestnut tree lined avenue, the pond and the mansion and its adjoining farmhouse, which both feature in an outstanding painting loaned by the National Gallery Prague, offering a remarkably cohesive artistic and academic picture of the artist’s work. The farmhouse adjacent to the mansion will also welcome the team responsible for the artist’s Catalogue Raisonné, in the Cezanne Research and Documentation Center, the world’s only institution with the authority to authenticate works by Cezanne.

Forced to sell the Jas de Bouffan estate in 1899, Cezanne settled in the town hall district, on rue Boulegon, before acquiring a plot of land on a hill called Les Lauves, overlooking Aix Cathedral. Here, he built a studio where, from 1902, he produced his final paintings and completed his Large Bathers, now on display at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, which he began at Jas de Bouffan.

In 2016, the City of Aix-en-Provence purchased an adjoining plot to improve access to the site. This space, devoted to the artist and his studio, which has been left as it was, and his restored possessions will be among the lasting legacies of Cezanne 2025.

Another highlight of the year will be the opening of a new public trail leading to the Bibémus quarries, to the east of the city, on the way to Mont Sainte- Victoire. Part of the city’s programme of events, it will provide visitors with a better understanding of what inspired Cezanne on a site closely associated with the artist.

We begin to see their influence on his work from the 1890s, with his first geometric landscapes, which eventually earned him the title “father of Modern art” and, for artists, “father to us all”, as he was described by Picasso, whose tomb lies just kilometres away.

Art and history museums in Aix-en-Provence will also run an ambitious programme of events throughout Cezanne 2025, placing the artist in his historical context and offering fresh insight into his legacy, one that was not immediately recognised in his native city or the rest of France.

Before, during and after the exhibition at the Musée Granet, young visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about what makes Cezanne’s art unique through a fun and interactive display at La Manufacture starting in February 2025.

Discover Cezanne’s World: Explore a curated selection of Paul Cezanne art books and monographs on Amazon. Dive into the rich tapestry of his brushstrokes and bring a piece of his legacy home.


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