Paul Cézanne was the Impressionist-associated painter who became a leading Post-Impressionist and helped point the way toward Cubism.
Born in Aix-en-Provence in 1839, Cézanne exhibited with the Impressionists, including the first independent exhibition in Paris in 1874 and the third in 1877. His work, however, gradually moved beyond Impressionism’s emphasis on fleeting light. He sought greater structural solidity, building scenes from carefully balanced colour planes and simplified forms.
Cézanne’s landscapes, still lifes, and bathers strongly influenced younger artists. His repeated views of Mont Sainte-Victoire and his still lifes demonstrate how he transformed observed reality into organized shapes. This interest in underlying geometry made him a crucial precursor to Cubism, especially for Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.
A common mix-up is calling Cézanne simply an Impressionist. He did participate in the movement and learned from Camille Pissarro, but art historians generally classify him as a Post-Impressionist. The other options were also major modern painters, but Cézanne is the canonical answer to this bridge-between-movements description.