The Man Who Loves Cezanne

The Man Who Loves Cézanne, a quiet but authoritative new collection from Dabney Stuart, blends an assortment of landscapes, themes, forms, and tones. The poems vary in subject- World War II, browsing library stacks, a family reunion, sky diving, a visit to a museum, and cancer, among other topics- and unfold to suggest a gradual acceptance of the unavoidable vicissitudes, frictions, and griefs of human life. With allusions to writers ranging from Shakespeare to Jung, and settings such as the southwestern desert of the United States, the volume reflects an overarching concern for art, both poetic and visual, and the untoward, difficult commitment of the life of the artist. The Man Who Loves Cézanne is a delicate mingling of traditional and more open forms, creating a tension that is always attractive and often powerfully moving.