1839 Paul Cézanne is born January 19, 1839, in Aix-en-Provence France out of wedlock, but is acknowledged by his father. He is the eldest son of Louis-August Cézanne, a wealthy banker, and Anne Elisabeth Honorine Aubert.
1857 Cézanne attends the Free Drawing School at the age of 18. Most of his paintings are dark and depressing. Cézanne learns to draw life figures by practicing with sculptures in the school's museum.
1858 Cézanne's father forces him to enroll in the law school at the University of Aix-en-Provence, France. He enrolls at the School of Design as well as the school of law. Cézanne quickly abandons law and visits Paris, where he meets Camille Pissarro. Pissarro encourages Paul to use color and investigate Impressionism.
1863 Cézanne exhibits in the Salon des Refusés, a salon organized for artists denied exhibition into the official Salon.
1869 Paul is finally accepted into the official Salon.
1870 Cézanne begins his relationship with Hortense Fiquet, a French artist's model. The Franco-Prussian war begins, and Cézanne and Hortense flee to L'Estaque.
1872 Cézanne's son, Paul, is born.
1873 Cézanne spends the year in the rue Rémy in Auvers with Hortense and their son. He works daily with Pissarro.
1874 Paul is a featured artist at the first Impressionist Exhibition, showing three paintings.
1877 Cézanne returns to Aix, France where he shows sixteen paintings at the third Impressionist Exhibition.
1886 Cézanne marries his mistress Hortense; he would continue to paint her portrait, completing 27 of them over the course of their relationship. Cézanne's father dies just six months after the wedding.
1889 Cézanne's painting The House of the Hanged Man is shown at the Paris World Fair.
1890 Cézanne is diagnosed with diabetes, making him extremely irritable. He falls into a deep depression.
1894 Cézanne spends the summer at Giverny, in the home of Claude Monet. He leaves suddenly, with no notice, and abandons several canvases at Monet's home.
1901 He purchases land north of Aix-en-Provence and builds a large studio and house. Paul leaves his entire estate to his son, specifically noting that his wife is to have none of it.
1906 Cézanne becomes isolated, working outside daily, often in inclement weather. He becomes ill from exposure and his son is called to be by his side. He does not make it in time and Cézanne dies on October 22.