Photos of L'Estaque

Estac is a fishing village northwest of the city of Marseille. One of the village's greatest achievements (aside from the films of Robert Gedikian) is its profound influence on artists Cezanne and Renoir. In 1864, Cézanne first came to Estaque. He escaped the grey weariness of Paris, and later the troop conscription for the Franco-Russian War of 1870, to this sunny seaside fishing village outside Marseille. Looking out of the window from his room, he could see the continuous tiles leading directly to the harbor, the fishing boats in the vast Marseille harbor, and the low rocky hills behind. He paints with passion, and every year, the landscape gradually changes. Roofs, sea water, barren rocks, and verdant bushes transformed into unique new appearances in his vision. "It's like playing cards. Red roofs against blue oceans," Cézanne described Estaque in a letter to his friend, the painter Camille Pissarro, in 1876. "Olive trees and pines are evergreen. So is the sun. Dazzling, everything seems to be only silhouettes, but not black and white, but blue, red, brown, purple.”