Renoir recounted that C┼╜zanne used paper flowers for his paintings. C┼╜zanne began to paint bunches of flowers about 1870, when he made contact with the Impressionists. His first compositions with flowers are of single vases, but in the following decade he mixes flowers with fruit, and later still they become the only subject matter, filling the whole canvas. Although he did not collect the works of his contemporaries, towards the end of his life C┼╜zanne bought from Vollard a superb watercolour by Delacroix of a bouquet of flowers, of which he painted a copy. The exuberance of these flowers is at one with the baroque style of his last works. Even more than his landscapes or scenes with bathers, C┼╜zanneΓÇÖs later still lifes with flowers and fruits celebrate a joy achieved through the successful balancing of sensual, spiritual and intellectual qualities. Unlike most of his work, which was for so long decried, these compositions enjoyed early success. Huysmans, who did not like C┼╜zanne, made an exception with these still lifes. In 1907, when the first retrospective exhibition was organized by the Salon dΓÇÖAutomne, one critic ventured to praise them: ΓÇÿHis craftsmanship shows
