The quality of a painter depends on the amount of past he carries with him.
Why assume that to look is to see?
When I paint I feel that all the artists of the past are behind me.
One does a whole painting for one peach and people think just the opposite - that particular peach is but a detail.
As far as I am concerned, a painting speaks for itself. What is the use of giving explanations, when all is said and done? A painter has only one language.
Basically the French are all peasants.