Shall I tell you what I think are the two qualities of a work of art? First, it must be indescribable, and second, it must be inimitable.

There isn't a single person or landscape or subject which doesn't possess some interest, although it may not be immediately apparent. When a painter discovers this hidden treasure, other people are immediately struck by its beauty.

You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat.

There are two indices of genuine art: it is inimitable and it is ineffable.

In painting, as in the other arts, there's not a single process, no matter how insignificant, which can be reasonably made into a formula. You come to nature with your theories, and she knocks them all flat.

In a few generations you can breed a racehorse. The recipe for making a man like Delacroix is less well known.

One morning, one of us ran out of the black, it was the birth of Impressionism.