Chestnut Trees at the Jas de Bouffan

Bare branches stretch across the sky in this quiet winter scene by Paul Cézanne, one of the great pioneers of modern painting. The trees stood at the Jas de Bouffan, a country estate near Aix-en-Provence in southern France that belonged to Cézanne's family. He spent a lot of time there and painted the grounds again and again, so this spot was clearly close to his heart. The tangle of branches creates a kind of natural screen, and behind it you can spot the warm walls of farm buildings and the faint blue shape of a mountain in the distance.

Look closely and you will notice that Cézanne built this picture out of small, deliberate brushstrokes, almost like little patches of color stacked together. This was his signature approach, and it helped lay the groundwork for movements like Cubism that came later. Rather than fussing over tiny details, he cared more about structure, the way shapes fit together and balance each other out. The green grass dotted with dabs of paint and the cool gray sky give the scene a calm, slightly melancholy feeling, the sort of mood you get on a still day when the trees have lost their leaves and you are simply taking in the view.