PAUL CÉZANNE

Both biography and art criticism, this exploration of Cézanne features well-reproduced paintings, mostly excellent design and text that’s partly savvy and partly incomplete. The biographical aspect shows an appropriately un-romanticized Cézanne, crotchety and often unappreciated by critics. Burleigh’s art analysis shines when he points out the paintings’ brush strokes or compares a Cézanne piece to another artist’s rendition or a historical photo of the same scene. He astutely explains Cézanne’s groundbreaking use of several perspectives within one painting. However, Burleigh’s analysis doesn’t address Cézanne’s signature technique of pulling his subject matter to the front of the painting (flattening the scene and minimizing depth) and doesn’t give the artist enough credit for freeing subject matter from representationalism, both of which contributed invaluably to the birth of abstraction. But despite this, young art fans will be drawn to the beautiful paintings and fascinated by how Cézanne tinkers with perspective. An attractive, worthy contribution. (glossary, bibliography, author’s note) (Nonfiction. 9-12)