Trees and Houses Near the Jas de Bouffan

"Trees and Houses Near the Jas de Bouffan," painted by Paul Cézanne between 1885 and 1886, is a pivotal oil on canvas work from his mature period. The title refers to the countryside near the artist's family estate outside Aix-en-Provence, a familiar setting that Cézanne continually returned to for inspiration throughout his life.

This painting exemplifies Cézanne’s focused exploration of how to reconcile the representation of three-dimensional space with the flat surface of the canvas. During this decade, Cézanne moved toward a more rigorous, structural handling of form, emphasizing geometric blocks of color to define mass and atmosphere. The medium of oil on canvas allowed him to build up these fractured planes, using visible, deliberate brushstrokes that articulate the fields and the architectural forms alike.

The composition carefully balances the natural elements, such as the sharply defined trees, against the man-made structures of the distant houses. Cézanne used a disciplined palette of greens, ochers, and subtle reds, employing brushwork that establishes the permanent, underlying structure of the landscape rather than fleeting atmospheric effects. This work marks a key moment in the artist's transition away from Impressionism toward a foundational style that heavily influenced later modernist movements.

This important piece is classified as a painting and is held in the renowned collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. As a masterwork of Post-Impressionism, reproductions and high-quality prints of Trees and Houses Near the Jas de Bouffan are frequently studied and sought after, particularly those versions that have entered the public domain.