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Beginning in 1864, Cézanne lived in Estaque where his mother rented a house in the village heights. After the proclamation of the Republic, on September 4th, 1870, Cézanne hid with his partner Hortense Fiquet in Estaque to escape the draft, and Zola joined them there. Cézanne lived and worked in Estaque temporarily in 1876,1877,1878,1879,1882,1883 and finally, in 1885. On July 2nd, 1876, he sent his address to Camille Pissarro: “Paul Cézanne, the Girard Residence (known as Belle), place de l'Eglise, in Estaque, suburb of Marseilles” to whom he wrote: “I began two small motifs showing the sea… It is like a playing card. Red roofs over the blue sea… ”. On July 16th, 1878, Cézanne settled “right next door to Girard, with Isnard”. In January 1882, Renoir, back from Italy, visited Cézanne. The two men worked together on the motif. Renoir painted, at Cézanne's side, “Rocky Crags at L'Estaque”, a canvas now in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts. On May 19th, 1883, Cézanne moved for the third time: “Cézanne, district of the castle, above the station in Estaque. I rented a small house with a garden right above the station, and at the bottom of the hill where the rocks start behind me with the pines”. In 1885, Cézanne moved to Estaque for the last time, in March: “I will walk the hills, where I see beautiful panoramic views”. He explained the reasons behind his departure to his niece Paule Conil in a letter dated September 1st, 1902: “I remember perfectly Establon and the banks of the Estaque shoreline that were once so picturesque. Unfortunately, what is called progress is but the invasion of bipeds, who do not cease until they have transformed everything into odious quays with gas burners and - what is worse still - with electric lighting. What times we live in!”. |
