Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The bastide of the Jas de Bouffan was built around 1730 by the Aixois architect Georges Vallon for Gaspard Trupheme, adviser to the Court of Auditors. Located west of Aix-en-Provence, it is located in a 15 hectare estate including farm, sheepfold, orangery, gardens, ponds and fountains, with an iconic view of the Sainte-Victoire mountain. Its architecture and gypsy decorations illustrate the style of the 18th century Provencal bastides.

In 1859, the banker Louis-Auguste Cézanne, father of the painter Paul Cézanne, acquired the property as a secondary residence. From 1870 the family settled there, and Paul Cézanne lived and painted there for 40 years (1859-1899). The bastide inspired a major part of his work, including portraits, landscapes of the Sainte-Victoire, and the twelve mural compositions of the oval living room (detached in 1922). Around 1885 his father built a workshop in the attic for him.

After the death of his parents (1886 for his father, 1897 for his mother), Cézanne sold the bastide in 1899 to finance the construction of his Lauves workshop. Ranked a historic monument in 1943 for the bastide and in 2001 for the park, it was purchased by the city of Aix-en-Provence in the 2000s. Rehabilitated under the direction of architect Pierre-Antoine Gatier, it reopened in 2025 as a museum dedicated to Cézanne, restored to restore its original appearance.

The bastide appears in cultural works, such as the film Cézanne et moi (2016) by Danièle Thompson, or the song Cézanne painted (1984) by France Gall and Michel Berger, evoking the Provencal atmosphere of the estate. Today, it is part of the Cezannian sites in Aix, alongside the Babanon of Bibémus and the Lauves workshop.

External links