One of the chief reasons that this show drew more than 640000 visitors during its run

One of the chief reasons that this show drew more than 640,000 visitors during its run in Paris last autumn was its freshness.”There is a sense in which Cezanne is, like Poussin, a peintre philosophe,” says Serota. Cezanne has been admired by artists for the exemplary way in which he constructed his compositions; he makes the subject work across the whole canvas – right up to the edges.” Yet, if you expect the Cezanne on view at the Tate to be the analytical formalist beloved by Modernism, you are in for a disappointment. As Serota says: “Although it’s the critics who describe Cezanne as the ‘father of modern art’, it is actually artists who have been responsible for that esteem. It’s no coincidence that many of the works in this show were, and in some cases still are, owned by artists. But what exactly is it about this infamously reclusive artist, dead for 90 years, that has the Tate’s normally laconic director so animated? What makes Cezanne such a key figure? Why, in a year when he has had to focus his attention on the funding and publicity of the Tate’s new Bankside gallery, has Serota spent so much time and energy on this one exhibition? Why, indeed should he himself have conceived and curated it?
Cezanne, whose last major retrospective was in 1936, is commonly perceived as the father of Modernism; the bridge between Monet’s Impressionism and the Cubists; the instigator of a new way of seeing in which everything could be reduced to the cone and the circle.He is also, importantly, the progenitor of an entire school of British artists stretching from Roger Fry’s disciples of the early 1900s, through the Euston Road School to the mediocrities who every year adorn the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition with still-lifes of lemons. In these two works you will be able to see all the power and passion of Cezanne.”

Cezanne The name invokes the very spirit of modern art.

We are a useful key to Whitehall, but please try to remember that the lock can turn very slowly.”BEN FARRINGTON. “It’s going to be one of the key moments of the show,” enthuses Nicholas Serota. “You will walk into the final room and there will be these two paintings, hung side by side – the two Large Bathers It will be a revelation. “We receive letters about which we can do damn little, but we do pass them on to people who can help. Telephone them to see what is happening before you brand them a callous oaf in the local paper.”We are largely postmen,” says Sir Julian Critchley, MP for Aldershot. Frequently they have written to a minister and are waiting for a reply. Evans suggests, “Type or carefully print your letter, use bullet points to itemise the issues, and say what you want the MP to do.

A good MP has open ears and a big mouth, but we need to be able to understand the problem.”Remember that although you may only get a card from your MP indicating that your letter has been received, this does not mean that your MP has done nothing. “The problems I hear are compelling, like ‘Grandma needs a new hip’, not ‘Who will be reshuffled?’ I would go mad if I spent all my time in the House of Commons.”As I phoned Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley, he and his secretary were trying to identify the author of an unreadable letter by comparing a scrawled signature with names on the electoral register. He is available to his electors 24 hours a day by telephone, and says his surgeries keep him grounded. You can telephone your local town hall, or the Palace of Westminster (0171-219-3000), write (House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA), or drop in to one of their surgeries.Tony Benn, Chesterfield’s MP, has met an average of 20 constituents a week, 45 weeks a year, since entering the Commons 45 years ago. The poor man has no children, but the CSA’s nasty letters took some explaining to his partner. Despite the man’s best efforts (he even hired a solicitor to protest his innocence) he kept receiving Kafkaesque replies acknowledging his letters but issuing more threats. Then Sir Teddy waded in, and, before you could say “Maastricht”, all was straightened out.There are three main methods of contacting your MP.

One of Sir Teddy Taylor’s electors was being threatened by the Child Support Agency for non-payment of his child’s upkeep. He or she can also set up meetings with ministers and VIP factory visits.3. And if you find yourself in a battle with one of the departments of the state or the legal team of a large company, you may need the help of a powerful, well-connected friend.A recent case illustrates how your MP reaches the parts ordinary appeals cannot. If you are in business, ask your MP to help you out with advice and contacts (eg how to go on international trade visits) and ask questions on the floor of the House. Your MP can get you free tickets to sit in the gallery for Prime Minister’s Question Time – the last great vaudeville theatre in London, offering a wonderful matinee show of old-time knockabout fun and crude name-calling.2. You pay their salary, expenses, and, though they have a secure job for up to five years, when elections come, you can still swing that swing-o-meter and cast them into the wilderness.So, before the election comes, here are three suggestions for getting value for money:l.