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Paul Cézanne. Mount Sainte-Victoire, 1894-1900. 71.5x92cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. |
"Why do you paint the same mountain again and again?"
Anatole watched him take another puff on his pipe.
"Why does a man pray to God again and again? To know Him better. I paint to know the mountain, the spectacle God spreads before our eyes. From every angle, in every season, in sunshine, in shadow, in every circumstance of our lives. It is never the same, yet it is always the same, and always good, like God the Father. Painters need to think of the world as their catechism." The man gazed off in the distance. "And I paint it to receive the Father's blessing."