There are some women who should barely be spoken to; they should only be caressed.

I put it [picture "A still life of a pear" by Edouard Manet] there [on the wall, next to the picture "Jupiter and Thetis" by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres], for a pear like that would overthrow any god.

Realism is more important than the sentiment of the picture.

Instantaneity is photography.

What is certain is that setting a piece of nature in place and drawing it are two very different things.

Work a great deal at evening effects, lamplight, candlelight, etc. The intriguing thing is not to show the source of the light but the effect of the lighting.

The frame is the pimp of painting; it enhances it, but it must never shine at the painting's expense.