Black is not a color.

I need to work to feel well.

Above all, keep your colors fresh!

I would kiss you, had I the courage.

The principal person in a picture is light.

Color is a matter of taste and sensitivity.

Color is a matter of taste and of sensitivity.

Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail.

One must be of one's time and paint what one sees.

I paint what I see and not what others like to see.

This woman's work is exceptional. Too bad she's not a man.

There is only one true thing: Instantly paint what you see.

I paint as I feel like painting; to hell with all their studies.

The country only has charms for those not obliged to stay there.

No one can be a painter unless he cares for painting above all else.

There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another.

There is no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other.

Every time I paint, I throw myself into the water in order to learn how to swim.

The latest fashion… is absolutely necessary for a painting. It’s what matters most.

Every new painting is like throwing myself into the water without knowing how to swim.

Who is this Monet whose name sounds just like mine and who is taking advantage of my notoriety?

You must always remain master of the situation and do what you please. No school tasks, ah, no! no tasks!

If I'm lucky, when I paint, first my patrons leave the room, then my dealers, and if I'm really lucky I leave too.

Concision in art is a necessity and an elegance. The verbose painter bores: who will get rid of all these trimmings?

It is not enough to know your craft - you have to have feeling. Science is all very well, but for us imagination is worth far more.

Conciseness in art is essential and a refinement. The concise man makes one think; the verbose bores. Always work towards conciseness.

The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted.

There is only one true thing: instantly paint what you see. When you've got it, you've got it. When you haven't, you begin again. All the rest is humbug.

There's no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other. There's always a difference. We all have a more or less crooked nose and an irregular mouth.

You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real.

In a face, look for the main light and the main shadow; the rest will come naturally — it's often not important. And then you must cultivate your memory, because Nature will only provide you with references. Nature is like a warden in a lunatic asylum. It stops you from becoming banal.

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