Towards Tucson (After Cezanne), oil on panel, 11"x14"  

This is a new painting that came out of one of my hikes up Madera Canyon, just south of Tucson, last September. The light coming over the mountain behind me was so delicate in the canyon, but was already burning strong on the grasslands and desert in the direction of Green Valley and Tucson. The overall composition is a hybrid of inspiration, also drawing from one of Cezanne's beautiful renderings of the iconic Mont Sainte-Victoire.

Paul Cezanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1885-1887

source: wikipedia commons

I just love the way that Cezanne hugs the shape of the mountain with that arching pine. I feel as if the tree is saying "Look... Look at this!" while giving the whole painting a wonderful sense of motion. It's such a solid mountain. Unmoving. But the sweeping branches tell a story of wind and seasons sweeping across the rock face of the land, and Aix below. It's that energy that I was after in Towards Tucson, which is a part of an exhibition at Artist's House Gallery in Philadelphia that honors the influence of Cezanne and corresponds with the Cezanne and Beyond show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. 

Best, Ben