Description of the picture:
Chateau Noir – Paul Cezanne. 1903-1904. Canvas, oil. 74 x 93 cm.
At the very end of the XIX century, the painter visited Provence, where he was practically fascinated by the castle under the name Chateau Noir, in other words the Dark Castle, and its chic park. It was a neo-Gothic style new building, carefully “disguised” as the oldest ruins that suffered from time and war. Cezanne made several paintings on which this castle was captured surrounded by lush vegetation.
On the canvas, the building becomes a mysterious medieval castle in a dense forest against a blue night sky. The whole picture is made under the influence of Claude Monet – it is impressionistic in spirit and in embodiment. But the animated strokes that make the image lively and mobile are not as small as the classics of this direction. These are large, even sweeping movements with a wide brush. There are many of them, they are layered one on another in color, have different directions, so the picture visually gains volume.
The beholder creates an illusion of presence, because the dynamics of the strokes indicate stormy, windy weather. It seems that you can hear how the leaves rustle in the wind and the branches of the trees creak. And behind their branches in the wind hiding a golden castle against a blue sky. From this he seems even more mysterious and attractive.
As in most of his works, Cezanne uses pure bright colors. But due to the layering of strokes, they acquire complex shades, literally fashioning a shape with color.
Due to the size of the strokes, the false impression is created that the canvas was created in a sketch, in a hurry. But looking closely, you can see painstaking work. Each element of the picture consists of many strokes superimposed on each other. As a result, the image takes on “flesh and blood”, becomes expressive and very effective. Almost closed by vegetation, the castle remains a mystery, a vision that struck the imagination of the artist."