To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.

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.

I look at a nude. There are myriads of tiny tints. I must find the ones that will make the flesh on my canvas live and quiver.

We are in a period of searchers rather than of creators.

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

The only reward one should offer an artist is to buy his work.

One must from time to time attempt things that are beyond one's capacity.