View of the Domaine Saint-Joseph c. late 1880s

Paul Cézanne, a French artist, painted this view of the Domaine Saint-Joseph with oil on canvas. Cézanne came of age in a period of rapid social and economic change. He witnessed the rise of industrial capitalism and the decline of the old aristocratic order. How did these developments shape his art? Cézanne lived and worked outside of Paris, and this distance from the center of the art world allowed him to develop his unique style without being subject to institutional pressures. Cézanne's paintings often depict the French countryside. His paintings reflect the growing importance of nature and rural life in French culture. The jagged brushstrokes and flattened perspective were radical for the time. To better understand this painting, we need to examine the complex interplay between social change, artistic innovation, and institutional power. We can learn more by looking at other paintings by Cézanne, reading contemporary art criticism, and studying the history of the French countryside.