All the complexity of Cézanne on display at the legendary Fondation Beyeler in Basel

The Fondation Beyeler in Basel has opened a major exhibition dedicated to Paul Cézanne, marking the 120th anniversary of his death. Curated by senior curator Ulf Küster, the show features 80 works—58 paintings and 21 watercolors—drawn from public and private collections across Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, and the United States. Highlights include nine versions of Mont Sainte-Victoire, rare comparisons of two watercolor versions of "Boy in a Red Waistcoat," and two versions of "The Card Players" from the Courtauld Gallery and the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibition runs until May 25, 2026, and is accompanied by a catalog published by Hatje Cantz Verlag.

This is the first time the Fondation Beyeler has mounted a Cézanne exhibition, despite holding several of his works in its collection. The show matters because it offers a rare opportunity to explore the full complexity of an artist widely regarded as a father of modern art—whose radical exploration of light, color, and form profoundly influenced generations of painters from Picasso onward. By bringing together rarely seen loans and multiple versions of key motifs, the exhibition deepens public understanding of Cézanne's singular, solitary practice and his enduring legacy.