“Cézanne is asking himself how exactly he feels about this rock, this cloud, this apple.”
Jed Perl, “Interpreting Nature” in NYRB July 22, 2021 issue
I think everything danced in Cézanne’s eye. “Still life” doesn’t describe the pictures he made.
Today’s adventure took on the MOMA’s current exhibition of Cézanne’s drawings and watercolors. If there’s a pinnacle moment to report, I think it’s my realization that watercolors are very, very light. They can feel sheer as water, keep so quiet, be so happy to pair up with pencil or ink. The gestures Cézanne used were so diverse in this amazing assemblage of works. Each line of paint in a contour acts as a parenthesis to the figure, which is fluidity in its essence. It IS a dance inside the painting.
Because I feel I’ve been possessed by a watercolor djinn for the last seven months, this adventure confirms what I’d begun to suspect, which is that my eyes have changed. The obsession signals an emerging evolution in my personal creativity. Okay then, I accept the challenge. I wonder, if nothing changes about us, can we really say that we are creative?
poet | artist 