Camille Pissarro: "Paint the essential character of things.."

‣ "Painting, art in general, enchants me. It is my life. What else matters? When you put all your soul into a work, all that is noble in you, you cannot fail to find a kindred soul who understands you, and you do not need a host of such spirits. Is not that all an artist should wish for?"

‣ "Dipingi solo con i tre colori fondamentali e i loro immediati complementari".

‣ "Quando fai una cosa con tutta la tua anima e con tutto ciò che è nobile dentro di te, trovi sempre la tua controparte.

‣ "When you do a thing with your whole soul and everything that is noble within you, you always find your counterpart".

‣ "A volte ho una paura terribile di spostare una delle mie tele. Ho sempre paura di trovare un mostro al posto dei preziosi gioielli che pensavo di aver messo lì!"

‣ "It does not astonish me that the critics in London relegate me to the lowest rank. Alas! I fear that they are only too justified!"

‣ "Observe that it is a great error to believe that all mediums of art are not closely tied to their time".

‣ "Cover the canvas at the first go, then work at it until you see nothing more to add".

‣"Dio si prende cura degli imbecilli, i bambini e gli artisti".

‣"God takes care of imbeciles, little children and artists".

‣ "I sometimes have a horrible fear of turning up a canvas of mine. I'm always afraid of finding a monster in place of the precious jewels I thought I had put there!"

‣ "Work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis... Don't be afraid of putting on colour... Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression".

‣ "All the sorrows, all the bitternesses, all the sadnesses, I forget them and ignore them in the joy of working".

‣ "It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character".

‣ "It is the brushwork of the right value and color which should produce the drawing".

‣ "We are all the subjects of impressions, and some of us seek to convey the impressions to others. In the art of communicating impressions lies the power of generalizing without losing that logical connection of parts to the whole which satisfies the mind".

‣ "I remember that, although I was full of fervour, I didn't have the slightest inkling, even at forty, of the deeper side to the movement we were pursuing by instinct. It was in the air!"