A Matter of Technique

Mountains in Provence

c1885 Oil on Paper

http://www.dl.ket.org/webmuseum/wm/paint/auth/cezanne/land/cezanne.mt-provence.jpg

Excerpt from my essay about Hemingway and Cezanne:

Not only do Hemingway's novels directly reflect the visual influence of Cezanne's work (like the trout lined up as Jake is fishing in The Sun Also Rises), but they come together with a similar technique as well. Cezanne's Mountains in Provence, for example, showcases a minimal and light brushstroke. However, when the strokes are placed together they create something whole and extraordinary. It is simple upon first glimpse, but the landscape is made beautiful by the complexity of the simply brushstrokes working together to create a whole. The reader's eye is also responsible for extracting some of the complexity out of the painting. That is the way that The Sun Also Rises works as well. Hemingway uses small bits of dialogue and a section of narration here and there. They are simple bits, but they work together to create a whole. However, if the reader is not willing to invest time and effort into placing the parts together and striving to understand them, some of the rewards of the text are lost.