Edward Reep, writing in The Content of Watercolor (1969), made appropriate reference to the significance of Cezanne’s contribution to the medium. (An example from the Cincinnati Art Museum is featured in Reep’s book and shown below.) “If ever there was a need to support the old cliche that ‘watercolor is the medium of the masters,’ we need only point to Cezanne and his genius in composition.”
Reep highlighted these aspects of Cezanne’s genius: tranquility, harmony, sensitivity, rhythmical movements, and dedication. Most of these qualities are recognized by other writers. Reep also picked up on the “concentric focusing” that a few of the most sensitive commentators are aware of (see Dore Ashton and her discussion of rondeur.) I am grateful for Reep’s insight that a Cezanne watercolor can have “a magic blending of invitation and distant recollection;” by this I think he meant that a Cezanne watercolor is both modern and historical.
1906 Paul Cezanne, River with Bridge, watercolor