2025 will be an exceptional year for Aix-en-Provence. The Cezanne au Jas de Bouffan exhibition, running from June 28 to October 12 at the Granet Museum, alongside the renovation of the artist’s iconic living spaces, will firmly place Paul Cezanne at the heart of the city and its region.
Cezanne at Home
While the 120th anniversary of Paul Cezanne’s death will take place in 2026, it is this year that Aix-en-Provence has chosen to celebrate this world-renowned artist. Organized by the City of Aix-en-Provence, the Granet Museum, and the Aix-en-Provence Tourist Office, with support from its partners (the State, the Région Sud, and the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolitan Area), Cezanne 2025 aims to honor the artist whose life and work are deeply connected to the region, as evidenced by the 87 representations of Mont Sainte-Victoire painted by him during his lifetime.
Because the love story between Aix-en-Provence and Paul Cezanne was not always a given, it is important today to give him the place he deserves. This long-term ambition is what Cezanne 2025 carries forward. Once the year is over and the exhibition completed, Cezanne’s legacy will remain firmly rooted in the city. He will be more than ever at home in Aix-en-Provence and the Pays d’Aix, which house the key locations of his life and work: the Jas de Bouffan bastide, the Atelier des Lauves, the Bibémus quarries, and Mont Sainte-Victoire. This initiative, symbolized by the slogan “Cezanne at Home,” also aims to enhance the region’s appeal well beyond 2025, in the same way that Giverny, the home of Claude Monet, attracts over 700,000 visitors annually.
© Office du Tourisme d’Aix-en-Provence
A unique and exceptional exhibition
The centerpiece of this tribute, the Cezanne au Jas de Bouffan exhibition, will gather 130 works by Paul Cezanne, from June 28 to October 12 at the Granet Museum. The Jas de Bouffan, a bastide bought by his father in 1859, became both his first studio and an artistic laboratory.
For forty years, Cezanne found an inexhaustible source of inspiration there: he began by painting directly on the walls of the 18th-century grand salon before exploring the park, the farm, and drawing inspiration from the agricultural workers around him, creating some of his most iconic works, such as The Card Players.
Despite the centrality of the Jas de Bouffan theme in his work, it had never before been the subject of a major exhibition. Presenting these 130 works in Aix-en-Provence, so close to the place where they were created, offers a unique resonance, under the light and landscape that saw their birth.
The organizers hope to welcome 370,000 visitors. In 2006, Cezanne en Provence attracted 451,000 visitors, and in 2009, Picasso-Cezanne brought in 371,000.
The exhibition will coincide with the gradual reopening of the Jas de Bouffan bastide and its park, currently under restoration. In 2026, for the anniversary of Cezanne’s death, the bastide and its park will be fully accessible, making Aix-en-Provence the city where one can walk in the footsteps of the master.
© Sophie Spiteri
An exceptional discovery
In August 2023, while restorers were working on the Jas de Bouffan site, an extraordinary discovery was made. On one of the walls of the salon, a trace of paint, a “brush wipe,” left no doubt. It was indeed the work of a painter, not a mason.
Around this 20 cm² window, an immense 6 m² fresco revealed itself to the astonished restorers. An unprecedented painting, never before seen, depicting the entrance to a harbor, which appears to be one of Paul Cezanne’s first works, created when he was just 20 years old. This discovery is remarkable, not only because it was thought that no traces of the artist’s wall paintings remained in Aix-en-Provence, but also because the salon at Jas de Bouffan turns out to be far more than a simple living space. Every wall, every area was painted, creating a 360° setting that Paul Cezanne made into a “Sistine Chapel” of his early works.
This extraordinary place will be open for visitors to explore, thanks to these new discoveries, a digital reproduction, and all the works loaned for the exhibition at the Granet Museum. It’s an unprecedented immersion into the world of the young Cezanne.
© Sophie Spiteri, Regis Cintas Flores, Office du Tourisme d’Aix-en-Provence
Walking in the painter's footsteps
Cezanne 2025 is also an opportunity to discover or rediscover the iconic locations that marked the painter’s life and career.
The bastide was sold in 1899, after the artist had spent 40 years of his life there. He then moved first to an apartment in the city center of Aix-en-Provence before buying land in 1901 on the hill of Les Lauves. He designed the plans for what would become his studio, now known as the Atelier des Lauves or Cezanne’s Studio. Also undergoing restoration, the Atelier des Lauves will soon be fully open to the public, revealing, on the ground floor, a previously closed space dedicated to the last years of his life.
Among the must-see places of Cezanne 2025 is the Painter’s Garden, currently being redesigned, offering breathtaking views of Mont Sainte-Victoire, which inspired Paul Cezanne to paint a series of 11 oils and 7 watercolors between 1902 and 1906.
Also notable are the Bibémus Quarries, where he rented a cabin in the 1890s. Here, visitors can admire these typical red rocks along a landscaped path, standing in the very spots where Cezanne set up his easel. Under the same Provençal light and blue sky, it is easy to imagine the artist creating some of his greatest masterpieces.
© Ville d’Aix-en-Provence
A Complete Cultural Offering
Beyond the major exhibitions, a cultural dynamic is unfolding around Cezanne in Aix-en-Provence. The Petite Galerie Cezanne, which opened on February 4, has been an enormous success, so much so that its exhibition, initially scheduled to run until October, has been extended until December 31. Designed for children, it offers a fun and sensory way to discover the painter’s work, moving away from digital experiences in favor of drawing, painting, and experimentation.
Two additional exhibitions complement this tribute: Aix et Cezanne at the Museum of Old Aix, exploring the intimate bond between the painter and his hometown, and a retrospective at the Pavilion of Vendôme, revisiting the Cezanne exhibitions of 1956 and 1961. The latter is famous for its incredible twist: in 1961, eight of the master’s paintings were stolen before an anonymous phone call led to their discovery in the trunk of a 404 in Marseille.
At the same time, a vast cultural season is unfolding, with numerous events and initiatives growing throughout the year. A gastronomic competition is also being organized. In 2025 (and possibly beyond), 21 Aixois restaurateurs will offer a Cezanne-themed menu, reinterpreting Provençal cuisine with seasonal and local products. Leading the jury will be Guillaume Gomez, former chef of the Elysée and France’s ambassador for food and gastronomy.
The Cezanne year is much more than just an exhibition; it’s a complete experience for all audiences.
All informations here : cezanne2025.com
Interview with Michel Fraisset – Head of Aix-en-Provence Tourism Office
MD
