Cézanne in Florence is a love story. The story of two young men who fell in love with the works of a solitary genius, Paul Cézanne. At the end of the 19th century in Paris Egisto Paolo Fabbri and Charles Alexander Loeser came across the works by Paul Cézanne, an artist almost at the end of his life, but still disregarded by the other artists, critics and the public.

In 1896 Fabbri and Loeser bought three paintings by Cézanne each from Ambrosie Vollard, the only art-dealer who believed in the French painter, and since then, in a short time, through their choice, they resolutely backed the artist. Once back in Florence Fabbri and Loeser did not see each other, but they jealously kept their Cézannes, showing their collections only to those who, in their opinion, could appreciate them. Cézanne’s admirers were few but enthusiastic, and those who understood the greatness and the incredible innovative power of his  paintings, set out on long journeys in order to admire them.

Fabbri worshipped the master from Aix-en-Provence with total and absolute devotion, and he was one of his main collectors in the world; also Loeser was foresighted in his choices as regards art - including ancient art - according to a precise philosophy: “ I have always been fond of the ‘undesirables’.  Only in this way can one attempt to gather a collection.”.

The unique peculiarity of the exhibition Cézanne in Florence lies in having gathered together for the first time the most noteworthy works of the Fabbri’s and Loeser’s collections that, before being scattered in the years between the two world wars, were the most important in the world. Totally contrary to the aesthetic tastes of the time, and even to the  surprise of the artist himself, Fabbri actually came to own 32 paintings by Cézanne while Loeser 15. These collections contributed to making Cézanne appreciated by  the international community and encouraged the artistic milieu of Florence towards  avant-garde trends.
 
The exhibition is housed on the piano nobile of Palazzo Strozzi.
The curators of the exhibition are  Francesca Bardazzi, a well-known scholar of  Cézanne collections in Italy,  and Carlo Sisi, the former director of the Gallery of Modern Art at Palazzo Pitti and one of the utmost experts on that period.