The well would often go dry

I've been reading about Paul Cezanne, considered to be the most significant 19th century painter. He sought to show a world in his paintings that was similar but also quite distinct from the real world. He discovered that the eye is able to understand the image even when traditional one point perspective is absent. Instead, everything is on the surface of the picture and colour planes seem to slide under each other. This new kind of reality is "the reality of the painting".