The Bend in the Road

Paul Cezanne

National Gallery of Art

A road or path curves away from us, past a tall formation, perhaps rocks, to our left, and into a valley filled with trees and a low hill beyond in this stylized, vertical landscape. The painting is created almost entirely with patches of vibrant colors mostly in burnt orange, peach, salmon pink, cobalt and sky blue, and lime and spring green. Most of the patches are applied with visible vertical strokes. Areas of unpainted canvas create white patches, especially on and around the path in front of us. The tall formation to our left is painted mostly in oranges and pinks. The trees in the valley are painted entirely with blues and greens, and the low hill enclosing the scene in the distance comes about three-quarters of the way up the canvas. The sky above is blocked in with pale aquamarine blue and a few touches of shell pink along the horizon.