ABOVE: Paul Cézanne’s Le Mont Sainte-Victoire au-dessus de la route du Tholonet (1904). France is making plans to mark the centenary of the painter’s death.

The French Culture Ministry announced yesterday that 2006 will be France’s Year of Cézanne, celebrating one hundred years since the Impressionist pioneer’s death. Among other things, that will mean a big exhibit at the Musée d’Orsay (actually a reheated travelling show that we already dealt with waaaay last July), and another show at the Musée Granet in Provence (which we’ve also already written about).

The culture ministry has also established a new tour of Provence, visiting a selection of landscapes that Cézanne painted. Near Mont Sainte-Victoire, they’ve apparently cut down trees in order to restore the original view as Paul painted it. There’s a new website up with some information on “Cézanne 2006,” which, incidentally, has a really ugly logo.

LINK: Associated Press > France Honors Cezanne in 2006 With Exhibits