Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.

A painter should begin every canvas with a wash of black, because all things in nature are dark except where exposed by the light.

The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.

One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.

The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.

He who loves practice without theory is like the sailor who boards ship without a rudder and compass and never knows where he may cast.

What is fair in men, passes away, but not so in art

Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.

If the painter wishes to see beauties that charm him, it lies in his power to create them, and if he wishes to see monstrosities that are frightful, ridiculous, or truly pitiable, he is lord and God thereof.