 An artist must never be a prisoner. Prisoner? An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success, etc. |
| I have always tried to hide my efforts and wished my works to have a light joyousness of springtime which never lets anyone suspect the labors it has cost me. |
| Work cures everything. |
| I do not literally paint that table, but the emotion it produces upon me. |
| I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things. |
| I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish. |
| A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I've been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light. |
| There are always flowers for those who want to see them. |
| In love, the one who runs away is the winner. |
| Impressionism is the newspaper of the soul. |
| There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted. |
| Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us. |
| It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else. |
| I would like to recapture that freshness of vision which is characteristic of extreme youth when all the world is new to it. |
| An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language. |
| With color one obtains an energy that seems to stem from witchcraft. |
| You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover. |
| In the beginning you must subject yourself to the influence of nature. You must be able to walk firmly on the ground before you start walking on a tightrope. |
| Exactitude is not truth. |
| A young woman has young claws, well sharpened. If she has character, that is. And if she hasn't so much the worse for you. |
