Question 1

True or false: Cézanne's father was a wealthy banker who eventually left him a large inheritance, supporting his art.

Accepted Answer

True. His father, Louis-Auguste Cézanne, was a successful banker, and Paul inherited a fortune in 1886, easing his finances.

Question 2

True or false: Pablo Picasso called Cézanne 'the father of us all' and credited him with inspiring Cubism.

Accepted Answer

True. Picasso said that, and Cézanne's geometric forms and multiple perspectives directly influenced Cubism.

Question 3

True or false: Cézanne was a close friend and frequent painting partner of Vincent van Gogh.

Accepted Answer

False. They never met; Cézanne worked in Provence and Paris, while van Gogh was in Arles and the Netherlands.

Question 4

True or false: Paul Cézanne's father was a banker who initially opposed his son's artistic career.

Accepted Answer

True. Louis-Auguste Cézanne, a wealthy banker, wanted Paul Cézanne to study law and disapproved of his pursuit of painting.

Question 5

True or false: Paul Cézanne painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Accepted Answer

False. The Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512, centuries before Paul Cézanne was born in 1839.

Question 6

True or false: Paul Cézanne frequently used a palette knife in his early paintings to create a thick, sculptural effect.

Accepted Answer

True. In the 1860s, Cézanne's 'couillard' style featured heavy impasto applied with a palette knife, as seen in works like 'The Murder' and 'The Black Clock.'

Question 7

True or false: Paul Cézanne abandoned his law studies to pursue painting at the age of 22.

Accepted Answer

True. He quit law school in 1861 at age 22, having never practiced, to focus on art despite his father's opposition. Biographies confirm this early career shift.

Question 8

True or false: Cézanne painted over 200 versions of Mont Sainte-Victoire from his studio window.

Accepted Answer

False. He painted the mountain around 60 times in oil and watercolor, far fewer than 200.

Question 9

True or false: Cézanne never exhibited at the official Paris Salon because his paintings were always rejected.

Accepted Answer

False. Cézanne was rejected many times, but his first and only acceptance at the official Salon was in 1865 with a portrait of his father.

Question 10

True or false: Paul Cézanne was rejected from the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

Accepted Answer

True. Paul Cézanne applied to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris several times but was rejected, partly because his style did not conform to academic standards.

Question 11

True or false: Paul Cézanne's work directly inspired the Cubist movement of the early 20th century.

Accepted Answer

True. Paul Cézanne's geometric simplification of natural forms heavily influenced Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who developed Cubism.

Question 12

True or false: Paul Cézanne was born in the city of Paris, France.

Accepted Answer

False. Paul Cézanne was born in Aix-en-Provence in southern France, not in Paris.

Question 13

True or false: Paul Cézanne achieved great commercial success and fame during his lifetime.

Accepted Answer

False. Paul Cézanne was largely misunderstood and his work was rejected by the public and critics; fame and success came only after his death in 1906.

Question 14

True or false: Paul Cézanne was a close friend of the painter Vincent van Gogh.

Accepted Answer

False. Paul Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh were contemporaries but never met and were not close friends; they moved in different artistic circles.

Question 15

True or false: Paul Cézanne's painting 'The Card Players' was sold in a private sale for approximately $250 million in 2011.

Accepted Answer

True. In 2011, the Royal Family of Qatar purchased Paul Cézanne's 'The Card Players' for a reported $250 million, a record sum for a painting.

Question 16

True or false: Paul Cézanne often used artificial fruit in his still life paintings to avoid the problem of real fruit rotting during his slow working process.

Accepted Answer

True. Cézanne’s meticulous painting technique meant real fruit decayed before he finished. He turned to wax or plaster fruit for consistency.

Paul Cézanne Trivia Questions