EDOUARD MANET

Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail.

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.

I need to work to feel well.

Color is a matter of taste and of sensitivity.

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

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.

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

Black is not a color.

I would kiss you, had I the courage.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Above all, keep your colors fresh!

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.

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

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

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

The principal person in a picture is light.

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.