Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan
- Artist: Paul Cézanne
- Date: c. 1883
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is the "Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan" painted by Paul Cézanne. The canvas, about c.1883, shows the tall trees that line the estate just outside Aix‑en‑Provence, a rural property owned by Cézanne’s father. Cézanne devoted more than three decades— from 1866 until the estate was sold in 1899— to capturing various views of the house, its grounds and the farmworkers that tended it. In this particular work he uses his characteristic short, parallel brushstrokes, a technique he refined in the 1880s. The strokes intersect in a way that creates a shimmering surface, as if the light is dancing on the leaves. One can almost feel the breeze that seems to rustle through the tree foliage. The oil on canvas gives the painting a rich depth of color, while the deliberate, rhythmic marks bring a sense of quiet movement to the scene. Cézanne’s focus here is not on dramatic composition but on how the natural light interacts with the texture of the trees, making the ordinary landscape feel alive and resonant.
See it in person
Tall Trees at the Jas de Bouffan hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
