The Gulf of Marseille from L’Estaque by Cézanne

In this article

The bay seen from the hills

L’Estaque is a fishing village on the coast just west of Marseille. Cézanne stayed there often in the 1870s and 1880s, painting the bay from the hills above. He made several versions of this view of the Gulf of Marseille, now in different museums.

Mountains across the water

Blue-grey mountains across the bay — Mountains across the water.

Across the bay, a line of blue-grey mountains closes the horizon. Cézanne flattened them into broad bands of colour.

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Houses as blocks of colour

Houses with red roofs among trees — Houses as blocks of colour.

On the slope below, houses and trees are built from patches of ochre, orange and green. The red roofs stand out against the deep blue sea. Cézanne treats every house as a simple geometric block.

A sea like a solid wall

The sea fills the middle of the picture with an almost uniform blue, as flat as a wall. Instead of showing depth with perspective, Cézanne layers the picture in horizontal bands: foreground, houses, sea, mountains, sky.

Questions about The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque

Where is L’Estaque?

A village on the coast just west of Marseille.

Are there several versions?

Yes. Cézanne painted this view several times; versions are in different museums.

When was it painted?

Around 1885.

Why is the sea so flat?

Cézanne built the picture in bands of colour rather than deep perspective.

Sources and image credit

Wikimedia Commons: Le golfe de Marseille vu de l’Estaque

Public-domain reproduction of The Gulf of Marseille Seen from L’Estaque, via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.