Letters of Paul C�zanne

Here is the long-awaited and much needed new translation of the correspondence of Paul Cézanne, known as the father of modern art. The existing collection in English, produced in the 1930s, is dated, inaccurate and incomplete; for this book, Alex Danchev has gone back to the original manuscript letters, clearing up decades of questionable scholarship and producing a fresh, honest and accurate translation. In his introduction Danchev paints a picture of Cézanne as a singular thinker and an uncompromising seeker after artistic truth qualities that shine through in the letters, but that many of his contemporaries failed to appreciate or comprehend. Danchev fills in the gaps here and in his many notes, revealing the mans very human hopes and fears as he strove to harness his sensations and artistic passion. The result is a collection of over 250 letters, written to family, friends, fellow artists and dealers, and encompassing major cultural figures of the late nineteenth century. Review Hard-headed, unfussy, and endlessly curious. --Books of the Year, The Independent Poignant and powerful ... Alex Danchev, who last year published an immaculate biography of Cézanne, has now edited an equally thoughtful new edition of the painter's surviving letters ... The letters, elegantly translated by Danchev and with footnotes that give context and identify the characters mentioned, show that, for all his travails, Cézanne could use words with the same powerful effect with which he laid on patches of colour. --The Sunday Times Danchev's new translation and edition of Cézanne's letters offers the most riveting portrait of the artist yet. --The Guardian Long awaited and much-needed ... a fresh, honest and accurate translation. --The Daily Telegraph Newly translated by his biographer Alex Danchev into fresh, vivid English that nonetheless conveys the idiomatic, idiosyncratic style and crucially the politesse of Cézanne's French, the complete letters in this volume reveal a multifaceted personality far more engaging than the cranky existential hero of modern myth. They form the most moving correspondence by an artist that I have ever read. --Financial Times Ingenious, sumptuous ... from Cézanne's frequently terse letters, Danchev reconstructs his stream of consciousness and redefines his character ... The publishers have produced an exceptionally beautiful volume subtly and sumptuously designed, a joy to look at as well as to read. Pages reproducing Cézanne's handwriting give the letters an almost physical presence ... This is a book you need to hold in your hands: it's a unique object, inconceivable on a textureless electronic screen. --The Observer a pleasure to read. --Times Literary Supplement Following the success of Danchev's biography of Cézanne in 2012, it might be thought that these letters are merely a timely addendum. That would be to underestimate the importance of this new book. --Frances Spalding, The Literary Review An outstanding - and gloriously readable - feat of scholarship. --Apollo, joint Book of the Year (with Danchev's Cézanne: A Life) Cézanne's letters are as essential to understanding the painting of the past century as were Van Gogh's and Pissarro's. Cézanne's scorn for painting talk was understandable. The worse sort leads you away from painting's trials and achievements. Cézanne's letters are the better sort. They lead you back. --RA Magazine For Christmas I would like The Letters of Paul Cézanne. --Jackie Kay, Books of the Year, The Observer Santa, please may I have in my stocking The Letters of Paul Cézanne? ... Wonderful. --John Banville, Books of the Year, The Observer Sumptuous --Salley Vickers, Books of the Year, The Observer Cézanne's eloquence and absolute dedication to his work are very moving. --Helen Dunmore, The Daily Mail Long awaited and much-needed ... a fresh, honest and accurate translation. --The Daily Telegraph A compendium of all known letters, which have been