An artist, under pain of oblivion, must have confidence in himself, and listen only to his real master: Nature.

The modern architect is, generally speaking, art's greatest enemy.

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

The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself, carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion; it is the current which he puts forth which sweeps you along in his passion.

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.

If the painter works directly from nature, he ultimately looks for nothing but momentary effects; he does not try to compose, and soon he gets monotonous.

When I've painted a woman's bottom so that I want to touch it, then [the painting] is finished.