CŽzanne met ƒmilie Hortense Fiquet early in 1869, and she became his companion. They were married in 1886, six months before the death of CŽzanne’s father.
Hortense was born on 22 April 1850 at Saligney in the Jura, and she was eleven years younger than the artist. In 1872 she gave birth to their son, who was also named Paul. Although his mother knew about the relationship, C┼╜zanne concealed it from his father, who only later accidentally learned about the liaison and his grandson. Even then, however, Hortense was never accepted, either by the painterΓÇÖs family or by his circle of friends. The Zolas, who led a respectable, middle-class life, avoided her and called her la boule (ΓÇÿthe ballΓÇÖ), possibly because of her rather round face. The nickname was taken over by even more malicious people, who called the coupleΓÇÖs son le boulet (literally a canon ball, figuratively a millstone around the neck), which says much about the relationship.
C┼╜zanne and Hortense did not live under the same roof for very long. Hortense preferred to live in a large town ΓÇô Paris or Marseilles ΓÇô while C┼╜zanne was working at Aix or LΓÇÖEstaque.
