Weaknesses in men of genius are usually an exaggeration of their personal feeling; in the hands of feeble imitators they become the most flagrant blunders. Entire schools have been founded on misinterpretations of certain aspects of the masters. Lamentable mistakes have resulted from the thoughtless enthusiasm with which men have sought inspiration from the worst qualities of remarkable artists because they are unable to reproduce the sublime elements in their work.

They say that truth is naked. I cannot admit this for any but abstract truths; in the arts, all truths are produced by methods which show the hand of the artis…

Delacroix, lac de sang hante des mauvaises anges, Ombrages par un bois de sapins toujours vert, Ou, sous un ciel chagrin, des fanfares etranges Passent, comme …

The so-called conscientiousness of the great majority of painters is nothing but perfection laboriously applied to the art of being boring.

I have three masters: Nature, Velazquez and Rembrandt.

Could we teach taste or genius by rules, they would be no longer taste and genius.

Imitation, if it is not forgery, is a fine thing. It stems from a generous impulse, and a realistic sense of what can and cannot be done.