Railroad Cut (La Tranchée)
1867 Barnes Foundation
About this artwork
This oil painting by Paul Cézanne depicts a rugged landscape with undulating hills and a visible path or 'cut' through the terrain. A modest white building with an orange roof nestles on a hillside to the left, while a tall, slender red structure and a rectangular white one rise from the middle ground under a muted sky.
Did you know?
Paul Cézanne, often considered the father of modern art, painted "Railroad Cut (La Tranchée)" early in his career, showcasing his foundational exploration of form and structure in landscape painting. This work, with its distinctive thick impasto and bold brushstrokes, hints at the revolutionary approach to depicting reality that would later define Post-Impressionism and pave the way for Cubism. Cézanne's meticulous study of nature, even in a seemingly ordinary scene, transformed the genre by emphasizing the underlying geometry and solidity of objects.
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Railroad Cut (La Tranchée)
Paul Cezanne, 1867
