Edouard Manet Quotes

• Every new painting is like throwing myself into the water without knowing how to swim.

  Edouard Manet

  Knowing, Water, Swim

  60 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Paint

  44 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Lines, Colour, Areas

  66 Copy quote

• 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.

  Edouard Manet

  Art, Imagination, Feelings

  65 Copy quote

• Who is this Monet whose name sounds just like mine and who is taking advantage of my notoriety?

  Edouard Manet

  Names, Sound, Advantage

  36 Copy quote

• The principal person in a picture is light.

  Edouard Manet

  Light, Vision, Awe

  26 Copy quote

• There is only one true thing: Instantly paint what you see.

  Edouard Manet

  Paint, Humbug, True Things

  37 Copy quote

• 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.

  Edouard Manet

  Real, Believe, Canvas

  46 Copy quote

• Every time I paint, I throw myself into the water
  in order to learn how to swim.

  Edouard Manet

  Order, Water, Swim

  22 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Art, Men, Thinking

  34 Copy quote

• Above all, keep your colors fresh!

  Edouard Manet

  Color

  17 Copy quote

• There's no symmetry in nature. One eye is never exactly the same as the other. There's always a difference. We all have a more or less crooked nose and an irregular mouth.

  Edouard Manet

  Eye, Differences, Portraiture

  15 Copy quote

• In a face, look for the main light and the main shadow; the rest will come naturally — it's often not important. And then you must cultivate your memory, because Nature will only provide you with references. Nature is like a warden in a lunatic asylum. It stops you from becoming banal.

  Edouard Manet

  Memories, Light, Shadow

  "Portrait of Manet by himself and his contemporaries". Book edited by Pierre Courthion, p. 98, 1960.

  25 Copy quote

• One must be of one's time and paint what one sees.

  Edouard Manet

  Paint

  "Edouard Manet: Symphony in off-white" by Julian Barnes, www.theguardian.com. April 15, 2011.

  20 Copy quote

• I paint as I feel like painting; to hell with all their studies.

  Edouard Manet

  Study, Painting, Hell

  21 Copy quote

• Color is a matter of taste and sensitivity.

  Edouard Manet

  Color, Taste, Matter

  23 Copy quote

• 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.

  Edouard Manet

  Paint, Begin Again, Humbug

  14 Copy quote

• The latest fashion… is absolutely necessary for a painting. It’s what matters most.

  Edouard Manet

  Fashion, What Matters, Matter

  26 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Country, Charm, Obliged

  24 Copy quote

• If I'm lucky, when I paint, first my patrons leave the room, then my dealers, and if I'm really lucky I leave too.

  Edouard Manet

  Lucky, Rooms, Firsts

  20 Copy quote

• I would kiss you, had I the courage.

  Edouard Manet

  Kissing

  16 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Eye, Symmetry

  41 Copy quote

• I need to work to feel well.

  Edouard Manet

  Work, Needs, Wells

  11 Copy quote

• Black is not a color.

  Edouard Manet

  Color, Black

  19 Copy quote

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

  Edouard Manet

  Care, Painting, Painter

  4 Copy quote

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