Paul Cézanne braves Paris's bleak midwinter

The life of a bohemian artist in 1860s Paris was fine in the summertime. Picture the picnics, the boating parties … You don’t have to imagine them for yourself, just look at the paintings of Manet and his contemporaries. But winter was tough. In this painting, Paul Cézanne – who at this time was a financially unsuccessful follower of Manet (note the Manet-like flashes of pink and blue in the dark composition) – depicts the bitter cold of an avant-garde winter. How does he illustrate it? By showing heat: the dim glow of a few coals in a cast-iron stove. This great painting is a powerful evocation of poverty in winter
Illustration: Photograph: National Gallery, London