At the National is the show Manet to Picasso. Cezanne does really well in this show with a fantastic small self portrait. It actually pulls the wall down around it. It has all the stuff we've come to understand about Cezanne but for me it was so rock solid that it looked to weigh a ton.

He does those chunky strokes laying out sections of the figure, building it like stucco. In the back the wall covering phases in and out like blurry vision on a hot day. It's breathtaking. The eye that's looking at you is lit from within - powerful and strong - kind of like Sergio Leone's cowboys.

The whole painting looks to be chipped out of rock. Here the lens plays no part - it's all about looking into one's own face. He doesn't look out to us - we're not included - he's thinking, watching, summing up what's in front of him. The space is shallow and the background is as much a part of the figure as the painted flesh - it's all handled identically. This painting was 33.6 x 26 cm - small and compact - but just as powerful and complete as any history painting. It's a lesson we in the 21st century could use to our advantage. Power isn't found in size.