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Paul Cezanne was a mainstay of the impressionist movement, yet it was very late
in his life before he achieved any recognition for his work. In his youth,
however, he was fond of hiking, and would often walk for miles, easel and
paint-box in hand, searching for the perfect viewpoint from which to paint.
The picture shown here was executed while he was on a walking holiday in
North Wales, and shows the River Colwyn at Beddgelert. The work was almost
lost to posterity when Cezanne was rudely jostled by some tourists of unknown
nationality, and fell from the bridge into the water. He had his revenge,
however; encountering one of the tourists in a tea-shop later that day,
Cezanne poked his eye out with a paintbrush. The enraged tourist summoned the
local policeman, intending to press charges, but the officer decided to follow
the tourist's example and turned a blind eye.
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