The principal person in a picture is light.
It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more.
I paint what I see and not what others like to see.
I need to work to feel well.
Concision in art is a necessity and an elegance. The verbose painter bores: who will get rid of all these trimmings?
There's no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other. There's always a difference. We all have a more or less crooked nose and an irregular mouth.
There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. When you've got it, you've got it. When you haven't, you begin again. All the rest is humbug.
There is only one true thing: Instantly paint what you see.
There is no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other.
There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.
The latest fashion… is absolutely necessary for a painting. It’s what matters most.
The country only has charms for those not obliged to stay there.
The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted.
One must be of one's time and paint what one sees.
No one can be a painter unless he cares for painting above all else.
Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail.
If I'm lucky, when I paint, first my patrons leave the room, then my dealers, and if I'm really lucky I leave too.
I would kiss you, had I the courage.
I paint as I feel like painting; to hell with all their studies.
Every new painting is like throwing myself into the water without knowing how to swim.
Conciseness in art is essential and a refinement. The concise man makes one think; the verbose bores. Always work towards conciseness.
Color is a matter of taste and sensitivity.
Black is not a color.
Above all, keep your colors fresh!
In a face, look for the main light and the main shadow; the rest will come naturally — it's often not important. And then you must cultivate your memory, because Nature will only provide you with references. Nature is like a warden in a lunatic asylum. It stops you from becoming banal.
