Quotes from Edouard Manet

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.

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

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

One does not paint a landscape, a seascape, a figure. One paints an impression of an hour of the day.

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

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

Black is not a color.

Color is a matter of taste and of sensitivity.

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.

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.

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

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

Qui donc a dit que le dessin est l'écriture de la forme? La vérité est que l'art doit être l'écriture de la vie.

Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail.

I would kiss you, had I the courage.

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

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.

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

I need to work to feel well.

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

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

He has no talent at all, that boy! You, who are his friend, tell him, please, to give up painting.–--Manet to Monet, on Renoir---