When you first commence painting everything is a muddle. Even the commonest colors seem to have the devil in them.

I taught in the Academy from the opening of the schools until I was turned out, a period much longer than I should have permitted myself to remain there. My honors are misunderstanding, persecution and neglect, enhanced because unsought.

I once painted a concert singer and on the chestnut frame I carved the opening bars of Mendelssohn's Rest in the Lord. It was ornamental unobtrusive and to musicians I think it emphasized the expression of the face and pose of the figure.

The big artist .. . keeps a sharp eye on Nature and steals her tools.

How beautiful an old woman's skin is! All those wrinkles!

No man, and least of all myself, could ever disentangle the feelings that animated him.

Enthusiasm for one's goal lessens the disagreeableness of working toward it.