Linear Perspective In The Work Of Cezanne

It seems that the Renaissance (1300-1700), methods of presenting the surrounding world in a flat pictorial plane using linear perspective, has dictated the way artists have worked for countless centuries. Linear perspective is a technique used by artists that uses line to create the illusion of depth and space within their work. However this approach is only a representation created using a singular eye. This method of working is suggested to have originated from Leon Battista Alberti’s (1404-1472) metaphor of painting, he proposes that a work of art can be comparable to ‘… an open window through which the subject to be painted is seen’ (1435-6). Alberti’s statement seems to be the explanation to why flat works of art, are repeatedly presented in a rectangle or square shape. Nevertheless something interesting started happening in the twentieth century, a sparse number of individual artists started challenging this manner of working. Since the birth of photography there was no need for art to serve a documentation purpose anymore or to be representational, traditional ways of
He began experimenting with depicting two different perspectives in one image which is easily visible in his painting, Still Life with a Plate of Cherries (1885-87) (fig 1). Note the two different viewpoints of the plates, the plate of cherries is painted from a bird’s eye perspective. Whilst the plate of peaches is perceived from a side view. The same concept again appears with the vase, you can peer inside as well as including a side view of the object. Perhaps if our eyes were inserted vertically inside our heads rather than horizontally, this would be an accurate depiction of how we see. Subsequently this technique was something that couldn’t be duplicated by photography at the time. Cezanne’s method of working sparked ideas and inspiration for other artists, hence the take-off of modern