Painting is the representation of visible forms. The essence of realism is its negation of the ideal.

Fine art is knowledge made visible.

I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any regime except the regime of liberty.'

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

I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota.

Beauty lies in nature and reveals, once the artist has perceived it, its own expressive power.

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