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I see less and less.. .I need to avoid lateral light, which darkens my colors. Nevertheless, I always paint at the times of day most propitious for me, as long as my paint tubes and brushes are not mixed up.. ..I will paint almost blind, as Beethoven composed completely deaf.
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The light constantly changes, and that alters the atmosphere and beauty of things every minute.
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My only merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to render my impressions of the most fleeting effects, and I still very much regret having caused the naming of a group whose majority had nothing impressionist about it.
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Pictures aren't made out of doctrines. Since the appearance of impressionism, the official salons, which used to be brown, have become blue, green, and red...But peppermint or chocolate, they are still confections.
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I climb up, go down again, then climb up once more; between all my studies, as a relaxation I explore every footpath, always curious to see something new.
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I won't be here long, I am working as hard as I can, as I told you in a letter yesterday, I am very happy to be here Etretat, Normandy and I hope to come up with something good, in any case I will bring lots of studies back with me so I can work on some big things at home.
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Listening only to my instincts, I discovered superb things.
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One day Eugène Boudin said to me, '..appreciate the sea, the light, the blue sky'. I took his advice and together we went on long outings during which I painted constantly from nature. This was how I came to understand nature and learned to love it passionately.
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Did you know that I went to London to see Whistler and that I spent about twelve days, very impressed by London and also by Whistler, who is a great artist; moreover, he could not have been more charming to me, and has invited me to exhibit at his show.
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I am weary, having worked without a break all day; how beautiful it is here, to be sure, but how difficult to paint! I can see what I want to do quite clearly but I'm not there yet. It's so clear and pure in its pink and blues that the slightest misjudged stroke looks like a smudge of dirt.. .I have fourteen canvases underway.
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'..learn to draw: that's where most of you Troyon's pupils are falling down today.. ..draw with all your might; you can never learn to much. However, don’t neglect painting, go to the country from time to time and make studies and above all develop them..' Monet is quoting in his letter Troyon, a friend of Boudin in Paris
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It's quite beyond my powers at my age, and yet I want to succeed in expressing what I feel.
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I'm half an hour late, I'll come back tomorrow.
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I am surrounded by a small group of young landscapists who will be very happy get to know you. Besides, they are real painters... I find myself very well fixed here. I am drawing figures at hard. And at the Academy, there are only landscapists. They begin to perceive that it's a good thing.
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Nothing in the whole world is of interest to me but my painting and my flowers.
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I still have a lot of pleasure doing them, but as time goes by I come to appreciate more clearly which paintings are good and which should be discarded.
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It took me a long time to understand my water lilies.. .I planted them for pleasure, and grew them without thinking of painting them.. You don't absorb a landscape in a day.. .And then, all of a sudden, I had the revelation of the enchantment of my pond. I took up my palette.
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In Paris one is too preoccupied by what one sees and what one hears, however strong one is; what I am doing here has, I think, the merit of not resembling anyone, because it is simply the expression of what I myself have experienced.
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Despite my exhaustion I have a devil of a time getting to sleep because of the rats above my bed and a pig who lives beneath my room.
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Techniques vary, art stays the same; it is a transposition of nature at once forceful and sensitive.
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Canvases between 8 centimetres and 1 metre are priced around 25,000 francs. In the past I used to sell them from between 50 to 100 francs at the most. I have to say... that I feel somewhat embarrassed at this admission.
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Once settled, I hope to produce masterpieces, because I like the countryside very much.
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I never draw except with brush and paint.
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It is difficult to stop in time because one gets carried away. But I have that strength; it is the only strength I have.