I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota, without . . . having painted as much as you can cover with your hand, to please somebody or in order to sell the picture more easily.

The principle of realism means denial of the ideal.

Beauty, like truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it.

France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside.

When I am no longer controversial, I will no longer be important

The expression of beauty is in direct ratio to the power of conception the artist has acquired.

Fine art is knowledge made visible.