Quote #4

I assure you no art was ever less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and study of the great masters; of inspiration, spontaneity, temperament - temperament is the word - I know nothing.

More from Edgar Degas

  1. Your pictures would have been finished a long time ago if I were not forced every day to do something to earn money.
  2. A vous il faut la vie naturelle, a moi la vie factice.
  3. J'ai vraiment, un vrai bagage dans la tete. S'il y avait pour cela, comme il y a partout ici, des compagnies d'assurance, voila un ballot j…
  4. Hitherto the nude has always been represented in poses which presuppose an audience; but these women of mine are honest, simple folk, uncon…
  5. Boredom soon overcomes me when I am contemplating nature.
  6. What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.
  7. Comme nous avons mal fait de nous laisser appeler Impressionistes.
  8. I always urged my contemporaries to look for interest and inspiration to the development and study of drawing, but they would not listen. T…

All Edgar Degas quotes