Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert (born 1817), the Artist's Uncle

Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert (born 1817), the Artist's Uncle by Paul Cézanne, is an intense oil on canvas portrait created in 1866. This powerful work belongs to Cézanne’s early period, often termed his "Dark Manner," characterized by heavy, dramatic brushwork and a somber palette dominated by blacks, browns, and deep blues. The medium is applied with remarkable force, utilizing a thick impasto technique that leaves visible ridges and textures across the surface, lending the composition a rugged, almost sculpted quality. The subject, Antoine Dominique Sauveur Aubert, was a notary and the brother of Cézanne's mother, frequently modeling for the young artist during this formative stage. This forceful approach demonstrates Cézanne's deliberate break from the academic traditions of smooth finish in favor of emotional and physical immediacy.

This compelling portrait captures the psychological intensity of the sitter. Aubert is rendered frontally, filling the frame and confronting the viewer directly. Cézanne uses high contrast, especially around the face, to define the figure against the indistinct background, focusing entirely on the solemnity and reserved nature of the man. The deliberate crudeness of the execution reflects the artist's early Romantic sensibilities, influenced by masters like Courbet and Delacroix, and paved the way for his later revolutionary explorations into form and structure. As a crucial example of the artist's foundational style, this painting is currently held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today, prints of this seminal work, often sourced from public domain images, remain vital for studying the development of modern portraiture.