"Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a nude, an anecdote or whatnot, is essentially a flat surface c…"

"Don't lose sight of the essential objectives of painting, which are expression, emotion, delectation; to understand t…"

"..Every work of art is a transposition,a caricature,the passionate equivalent of a sensation received."

"I believe that art should sanctify nature."

"To synthesize is not necessarily to simplify in the sense of suppressing certain parts of the object: it is to simpli…"

"Painting is first of all the art of imitation, and not the servant of some imaginary 'purity'"

"Art is no longer a visual sensation that we gather, like a photograph, as it were, of nature. No, it is a creation of…"

"What amazement, followed by what a revelation! In place of windows opening on nature, like the impressionists, these …"

"The sublime is to approach the subject or wall with an attitude that is grand, noble, and in no way petty.."

"Art remains a sure refuge, the hope of a reason in life from now on, and the consoling thought that little beauty man…"