As Google’s front page reminds us, today is the birthday of famous painter Paul Cézanne. While Google decided to use Cézanne’s still life of fruits and tableware for their Doodle, I chose to feature one of the artist’s darker pieces, Pyramid Of Skulls (1901), because, well, I just think it’s so metal. The artist did plenty of other still life paintings of skulls, some of which have skulls and fruit in them.

The 19th-century French Post-Impressionism painter was born 172 years ago on January 19, 1839. His work influenced other great artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and art movements like Cubism.

There are many of Cézanne’s paintings on display in museums all over the world, such as The Museum Of Modern Art in New York City and Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Back in 2005, I got to see the MoMa special exhibit called “Pioneering Modern Painting: Cézanne and Pissarro 1865–1885,” which presented the work of Paul Cézanne and Camille Pissarro in the context of their artistic relationship.

The Guardian has a great piece today on Cézanne, Paul Cézanne at 172: still life and landscapes run deep, and you can find images of hundreds of Cézanne’s works over at www.paul-cezanne.org.

Paul Cézanne
January 19, 1839 – October 22, 1906