485
PARTISAN REVIEW
sands of these. One sees that, as Schapiro has remarked, "he was
capable of an astonishing variety...He admitted to the canvas a
great span of perception and mood, greater than that of his
Impressionist friends." The supports he had put into place helped
him pursue his art with perseverence and consistency. The
ephemeral and the fugitive, which occupy a prominent place in
works created by some of his friends, are somewhat less welcome in
his paintings. His was a deliberate pace. "Time and reflection
gradually modify vision ," he wrote , "and finally we reach
understanding." He acted as though he knew that, as Emerson
explains, 'There is a sublime prudence ...which, believing in a vast
future-sure of more to come than is yet seen-postpones talent to
genius and special results to character." Cezanne's way of
proceeding is reflected in the advice he gave a young artist on "the
pursuit of your art, which one must try to engage in-not without a
firm basis and half-heartedly-but rather in a calm and consistent
way that will not fail to lead to clear-sightedness, something very
useful in guiding you firmly through life."
