These women of mine are decent, simple human beings who have no other concern than that of their physical condition... it is as though one were watching through a keyhole.
Edgar DegasNo art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.
Edgar DegasWhat is certain is that setting a piece of nature in place and drawing it are two very different things.
Edgar DegasIt seems to me that today, if the artist wishes to be serious - to cut out a little original niche for himself, or at least preserve his own innocence of personality - he must once more sink himself in solitude. There is too much talk and gossip; pictures are apparently made, like stock-market prices, by competition of people eager for profit; in order to do anything at all we need (so to speak) the wit and ideas of our neighbors as much as the businessmen need the funds of others to win on the market. All this traffic sharpens our intelligence and falsifies our judgment.
Edgar Degas