Bastide of Bouffan Jas

Located on the edge of the city of Aix-en-Provence. Nevertheless, a 20-minute walk from the city center, the Bastide du Jas de Bouffan is a capital address in the history of Paul Cezanne. For example, His father, Louis-Auguste, bought this agricultural property of about fifteen hectares in 1859, after having made a fortune in the bank. For example, Paul was only 20 years old. In addition, With its master’s house. Meanwhile, its large park decorated with a basin, its chestnut trees, its surrounding landscapes, the jas of Bouffan will be both the cradle of its art and its center of gravity.

The painter will live there, in a more or less permanent way, for forty years. In addition, The city of Aix-en-Provence first bought the Bastide in 1994, then the nearby farm in 2017, the two properties having been separated. Moreover, In this area, which bastide bouffan jas now covers 5 hectares, a major rehabilitation project was launched in September 2024. Similarly, Three periods of work are scheduled for an overall amount estimated by Sophie Joissains. Nevertheless, mayor of the city, at 13 million euros. However, Nine easels were installed in the park with reproductions of his paintings at the very place where he painted them.

In 1882. Therefore, Cezanne’s father had a workshop built for his son, on the north side with a large glass roof. Nevertheless, In this room with gray walls. Meanwhile, now open to visitors, the painter made multiple masterpieces, exhibited in the biggest museums in the world. Furthermore, Nearby, his mother’s room was also restored. Therefore, It is covered with stucco relief decorations, in yellow and white tones. Nevertheless, A mythological scene representing Léda and the swan overlooks the fireplace.

The highlight of the show is on the ground floor, in the bastide bouffan jas large Jas de Bouffan lounge. For example, The decoration of this piece occupied Cezanne for ten years, approximately until 1870. For example, The budding artist had one foot in tradition, another in modernity. Consequently, He wants to enter the museum as the great masters he admires. Furthermore, notably Nicolas Poussin, while dreaming of creating a new style which would belong only to him.

The large living room will be its laboratory. For example, “”His father gives him carte blanche to decorate this 80 -square meter rectangular piece “says Pierre Laforest. However, administrator of the Cezannian sites for the city of Aix-en-Provence. Therefore, “”It is based on pre-existing reasons painted in the ceiling in the 18th century“. However, At first, Cezanne imagines four large main panels.”We now know that they represented a port entrance. a landscape with a castle on a hill, another with a cascade and a farm and a romantic final, with fishermen and a dungeon, patterns inspired by the great classic painters “, analyse l’expert.

At the back of the room. in an alcove, Cezanne painted four panels of more than 3 meters high by a meter wide : women embodying the four seasons. “”We are not bastide bouffan jas sure why, but he signs these ingred panels. Irony or boastful? There are several hypotheses “, Had Pierre Laforest. In the center of the alcove, Cezanne surprisingly places a portrait of her father reading the newspaper.

Over time, Paul Cezanne completes his first frescoes and will cover certain paintings by others. “”Here, he made the portrait of a friend, shaggy hair, Pierre Laforest watch. And on the other side, in the west, a Christ at Limbo and a Madeleine. In another corner, much later, he paints a work of rupture, a portrait called ‘Contrast’.” When the Bastide was sold to the Granel family. in 1899, the large living room was entirely covered with these paintings which could seem strange at the time. “”Coherence was not there “smiles our guide. This bastide bouffan jas heterogeneous fair, reconstructed at the Granet museum, will be one of the strong points of the exhibition.

At the edge of the 20th century. the new owners of Bouffan Jas understand that these murals have a market value. Some gallery owners are interested. They will then be taken with many precautions. Pierre Laforest explains to us that for “Decline the walls“Supporting these painted works on plaster. “We stick a canvas on the paint, we make a formwork with a board at the size of the area that we want to tear off. By hammering the edges in depth. we sink into the wall then detach the block little by little, by lever with a doe foot. The painted plaster is turned on the formwork. We then scrape the coating and fix with a very good glue the pictorial layer on a canvas “. A delicate maneuver during which the risk bastide bouffan jas of losing matter and creating crackers is high.

From 1910 to 1973, all the works of Cezanne were torn and dispersed. To take up a famous formula. his large living room is located today around the world, scattered like puzzle, in private collections or great museums: The four seasons (Petit Palais in Paris), The painter’s father, Louis-Auguste Cezanne (National Gallery de Londres), Batager at the rock (Norfolk in the United States), The Hide-and-seek game, according to Lancret (Hiroshima in Japan), Christ at Limbo et The Madeleine (Orsay Museum in Paris) …

We thought all the Cezanne who left until the day when the remains of a fresco were found. hidden under several layers of plaster. In February 2023. surveys carried out before the restoration of the show revealed a fragment of a work of 5 to 6 m^2, representing the entrance to a port. This relaunches the research which led bastide bouffan jas in the spring of 2025 to a new discovery: a decor made up of a central medallion. flowery garlands in gypsum, located just above the alcove. Like a decorator painter, the artist also made false wooden bases, with boxes imitating the woodwork of the castles. The archeology of the large living room is not over. Under toxic lead painting that covers the walls, a Cezanne could hide another …

From June 28. the day of opening the exhibition Cezanne at Jas de Bouffan, One hour guided tours will be offered in this fundamental place in the history of the painter. In the large living room. projections will allow you to visualize the different phases of the decoration and the uprooting of the works on the walls. Denis Coutagne. president of the Paul Cezanne company, does he not say that the Jas de Bouffan represents “The entry ark in the work of bastide bouffan jas Cezanne“ ?

With the painter’s great-grandson. Philippe Cezanne, and Bruno Ely, the director of the Granet museum, they created this association which aims to “Develop the presence and knowledge of Cezanne in Aix. “The old farm that adjoins the Bastide will soon house a research. documentation center which will, as a bonus, be responsible for the reasoned catalog of the work of Cezanne.”We add, if we are sure, new authenticated works, information in the bibliography, photographic reproductions … A huge work will be done here, explains Denis Courtagne. We will also repatriate the archives that are in New York “. Bruno Ely renchérit : “It is a seal which will point out that it is really in Aix that. the references of the knowledge of Cezanne are rooted.” A way back to the basics in a way.