André Derain: "The substance of painting is light"

• "Fauvism was our ordeal by fire... colours became charges of dynamite. They were expected to charge light... The great merit of this method was to free the picture from all imitative and conventional contact".

• "It was the era of photography. This may have influenced us, and played a part in our reaction against anything resembling a snapshot of life".

• "I'd like to study the drawings of kids. That's where the truth is, without a doubt".

• "Mi piacerebbe studiare i disegni dei bambini. Ecco dove si trova la verità, senza dubbio".

• "We become intoxicated with color, with words that speak of color, and with the sun that makes colors brighter".

• "Diventiamo intossicati dal colore, dalle parole che parlano del colore e dal sole che rende i colori più luminosi".

• "Art must not be intelligent; art is a jouissance, an enjoyment".

• "L'arte non deve essere intelligente; l'arte è godimento, un godimento".

• "There is only one kind of painting: landscape. It is the most difficult. It has also, I believe, the most simple kind of composition. Because no one can stop us from imagining the world in the way that pleases us most".

• "If I paint a girl in the sunlight, it's the sunlight I am painting, not the real girl; and even for that I should have the sunlight on my palette. I don't care for an accidental effect of light and shade, a thing of 'mere charm'".

• "Il più grande pericolo nell'arte è la troppa conoscenza".

• "The greatest danger in art is too much knowledge".

• "The substance of painting is light".

• "La sostanza della pittura è la luce".