Sunrise

A bright yellow sun rises in the centre of the picture, beside a tree. Its vibrant colour stands out against the rest of the composition, which is darker in tone than its companion piece, Sunset.Cézanne and Van Gogh were both admirers of Monticelli’s use of thickly applied paint or impasto, and the directional brushstrokes in his later work. This painting, which is typical of the artist’s late style, appears to have been painted outdoors. Cézanne and Monticelli were very good friends during the 1880s, and they often used to go off together to paint in the open air. It was perhaps during one of these outdoor sessions that Monticelli painted Sunrise, which is usually dated to about 1882–4.