Despite My Extremely Modest Prices, Dealers And Art Lovers Are Turning Their Backs On Me. It Is Very Depressing To See The Lack Of Interest Shown In An Art Object Which Has No Market Value.

-Claude Monet

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Despite My Extremely Modest

Claude Monet

Despite My Extremely Modest Prices, Dealers And Art Lovers Are Turning Their Backs On Me. It Is Very Depressing To See The Lack Of Interest Shown In An Art Object Which Has No Market Value.

Topic

Depressing

Art

Lovers

More From Claude Monet

I Intend To Do A Large Painting Of The Cliff At Etretat, Although It Is Terribly Bold Of Me To Do So After Courbet Has Painted It So Admirably, But I Will Try To Do It In A Different Way.

Trying

Different

Way

It Goes Without Saying That I Will Do Anything At Any Price To Pull Myself Out Of A Situation Like This [rejection] So That I Can Start Work Immediately On My Next Salon Picture And Ensure That Such A Thing Should Not Happen Again.

Determination

Rejection

I Had So Much Fire In Me And So Many Plans.

Fire

Burning

Plans

I Want To Paint The Air In Which The Bridge, The House And The Boat Are To Be Found - The Beauty Of The Air Around Them, And That Is Nothing Less Than The Impossible.

Air

Bridges

House

These Landscapes Of Water And Reflection Have Become An Obsession.

Reflection

Water

Landscape

It Is Difficult To Stop In Time Because One Gets Carried Away. But I Have That Strength; It Is The Only Strength I Have.

Finishing

Difficult

Carried Away

Colors Pursue Me Like A Constant Worry. They Even Worry Me In My Sleep.

Sleep

Color

Worry

For Me, A Landscape Does Not Exist In Its Own Right, Since Its Appearance Changes At Every Moment; But The Surrounding Atmosphere Brings It To Life - The Light And The Air Which Vary Continually. For Me, It Is Only The Surrounding Atmosphere Which Gives Subjects Their True Value.

Life

Change

Stars

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.

Past

Selling

Used

I Am Very Depressed And Deeply Disgusted With Painting. It Is Really A Continual Torture.

Depression

Painting

Torture

I Know That To Paint The Sea Really Well, You Need To Look At It Every Hour Of Every Day In The Same Place So That You Can Understand Its Way In That Particular Spot; And That Is Why I Am Working On The Same Motifs Over And Over Again, Four Or Six Times Even.

Artist

Sea

Needs

To See We Must Forget The Name Of The Thing We Are Looking At.

Names

Forget

I Think Only Of My Painting, And If I Were To Drop It, I Think I'd Go Crazy.

Crazy

Thinking

Painting

When You Go Out To Paint, Try To Forget What Objects You Have Before You - A Tree, House, A Field....merely Think, Here Is A Little Square Of Blue, Here An Oblong Of Pink, Here A Streak Of Yellow, And Paint It Just As It Looks To You, The Exact Color And Shape, Until It Gives Your Own Naive Impression Of The Scene Before You.

Art

Thinking

Squares

I Haven't Many Years Left Ahead Of Me And I Must Devote All My Time To Painting, In The Hope Of Achieving Something Worthwhile In The End, Something If Possible That Will Satisfy Me.

Years

Painting

Achieve

It Is Better To Have Done Something Than To Have Been Someone.

Motivational

Done

Has Beens

I'm Getting So Slow At My Work It Makes Me Despair, But... I'm Increasingly Obsessed By The Need To Render What I Experience, And I'm Praying That I'll Have A Few More Good Years Left To Me.

Years

Despair

Needs

What Can Be Said About A Man Who Is Interested In Nothing But His Painting? It's A Pity If A Man Can Only Interest Himself In One Thing. But I Can't Do Any Thing Else. I Have Only One Interest.

Men

Painting

Pity

Paint What You Really See, Not What You Think You Ought To See; Not The Object Isolated As In A Test Tube, But The Object Enveloped In Sunlight And Atmosphere, With The Blue Dome Of Heaven Reflected In The Shadows.

Thinking

Blue

Heaven

No, I'm Not A Great Painter. Neither Am I A Great Poet.

Poet

Painter

Great Poet

Most People Think I Paint Fast. I Paint Very Slowly.

Thinking

People

Paint

The Creditors Are Proving Impossible To Deal With And Short Of A Sudden Appearance On The Scene Of Wealthy Art Patrons, We Are Going To Be Turned Out Of This Dear Little House Where I Led A Simple Life And Was Able To Work So Well. I Do Not Know What Will Become Of Us.

Art

Simple

House

It Took Me Time To Understand My Water Lilies. I Had Planted Them For The Pleasure Of It; I Grew Them Without Ever Thinking Of Painting Them.

Thinking

Water Lily

Lilies

I Want The Unobtainable. Other Artists Paint A Bridge, A House, A Boat, And That's The End. They Are Finished. I Want To Paint The Air Which Surrounds The Bridge, The House, The Boat, The Beauty Of The Air In Which These Objects Are Located, And That Is Nothing Short Of Impossible.

Artist

Air

Bridges

For Almost Two Months Now I've Been Struggling Away With No Result.

Struggle

Two

Months

I Know Well Enough In Advance That You'll Find My Paintings Perfect. I Know That If They Are Exhibited They'll Be A Great Success, But I Couldn't Be More Indifferent To It Since I Know They Are Bad, I'm Certain Of It.

Perfect

Painting

Enough

I Have Made Tremendous Efforts To Work In A Darker Register And Express The Sinister And Tragic Quality Of The Place, Given My Natural Tendency To Work In Light And Pale Tones.

Light

Effort

Quality

I'm Knocked Out, I've Never Felt So Physically And Mentally Exhausted, I'm Quite Stupid With It And Long Only For Bed; But I Am Happy.

Stupid

Long

Bed

Nature Won't Be Summoned To Order And Won't Be Kept Waiting. It Must Be Caught, Well Caught.

Order

Waiting

Caught

One Is Too Taken Up With All That One Sees And Hears In Paris, However Strong One Is, And What I Do Here [in Etretat] Will At Least Have The Merit Of Being Unlike Anyone Else, At Least I Believe So, Because It Will Simply Be The Expression Of What I, And Only I, Have Felt.

Strong

Believe

Taken

Take Clear Water With Grass Waving At The Bottom. It's Wonderful To Look At, But To Try To Paint It Is Enough To Make One Insane.

Water

Insane

Trying

I Have Once More Taken Up Things That Can't Be Done: Water With Grasses Weaving On The Bottom. But I'm Always Tackling That Sort Of Thing!

Taken

Water

Done

Listening Only To My Instincts, I Discovered Superb Things.

Inspiration

Listening

Instinct

I'm Going To Get Down To A Still Life On A Size 50 Canvas Of Rayfish And Dogfish With Old Fishermen's Baskets. Then I'm Going To Turn Out A Few Pictures To Send Wherever Possible, Given That Now, First And Foremost - Unfortunately - I Have To Earn Some Money.

Money

Firsts

Size

I Can Only Draw What I See.

Draws

I Can

I Say That Whoever Claims To Have Finished A Canvas Is Terribly Arrogant.

Finishing

Arrogant

Canvas

For Me, A Landscape Does Not Exist In Its Own Right, Since Its Appearance Changes At Any Moment.

Change

Doe

Landscape

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.

Light

Color

Long

Work Is Nearly Always A Torture. If I Could Find Something Else I Would Be Much Happier, Because I Could Use This Other Interest As A Form Of Relaxation. Now I Cannot Relax.

Relaxation

Suffering

Would Be

I Work At My Garden All The Time And With Love. What I Need Most Are Flowers, Always. My Heart Is Forever In Giverny.

Flower

Heart

Garden

I Still Don't Know Where I Am Going To Sleep Tomorrow.

Sleep

Tomorrow

Stills

Critic Asks: 'and What, Sir, Is The Subject Matter Of That Painting?' - 'the Subject Matter, My Dear Good Fellow, Is The Light.

Light

Matter

Painting

One Day I Am Satisfied, The Next Day I Find It All Bad; Still I Hope That Some Day I Will Find Some Of Them Good.

Next Day

One Day

Goodness

I'm Quite Content: Although What I'm Doing Is Far From Being As I Should Like, I Am Complemented Often Enough All The Same.

Contentment

Enough

Should

The Point Is To Know How To Use The Colours, The Choice Of Which Is, When All's Said And Done, A Matter Of Habit.

Choices

Use

Done

I Despise The Opinion Of The Press And The So-called Critics.

Opinion

Despise

Critics

As For Myself, I Met With As Much Success As I Ever Could Have Wanted. In Other Words, I Was Enthusiastically Run-down By Every Critic Of The Period.

Success

Running

Pick Me Up

Every Day I Discover More And More Beautiful Things. It’s Enough To Drive One Mad. I Have Such A Desire To Do Everything, My Head Is Bursting With It.

Beautiful

Mad

Desire

By The Single Example Of This Painter Devoted To His Art With Such Independence, My Destiny As A Painter Opened Out To Me.

Art

Destiny

Independence

I Am Enslaved To My Work, Always Wanting The Impossible, And Never, I Believe, Have I Been Less Favoured By The Endlessly Changeable Weather.

Believe

Weather

Impossible

Light Is The Most Important Person In The Picture.

Light

Important

Immortal Life

All Of A Sudden I Had The Revelation Of How Enchanting My Pond Was.

Ponds

Revelations

Enchanting

I Am Following Nature Without Being Able To Grasp Her, I Perhaps Owe Having Become A Painter To Flowers.

Art

Nature

Flower

While Adding The Finishing Touches To A Painting Might Appear Insignificant, It Is Much Harder To Do Than One Might Suppose.

Finishing

Might

Painting

Everyone Discusses My Art And Pretends To Understand, As If It Were Necessary To Understand, When It Is Simply Necessary To Love.

Life

Art

Mental Health

To Have Gone To All This Trouble To Get To This Is Just Too Stupid! Outside There's Brilliant Sunshine But I Don't Feel Up To Looking At It.

Depression

Stupid

Sunshine

I've Spent So Long On Some Paintings That I No Longer Know What To Think Of Them, And I Am Definitely Getting Harder To Please; Nothing Satisfies Me.

Frustration

Thinking

Long

When I Look At Nature I Feel As If I'll Be Able To Paint It All, Note It All Down, And Then You Might As Well Forget It Once You're Working.

Nature

Looks

Down And

The Older I Become The More I Realize Of That I Have To Work Very Hard To Reproduce What I Search: The Instantaneous. The Influence Of The Atmosphere On The Things And The Light Scattered Throughout.

Light

Atmosphere

Realizing

I'm Continuing To Work Hard, Not Without Periods Of Discouragement, But My Strength Comes Back Again.

Strength

Hard Work

Discouragement

I'm Not Lacking For Enthusiasm As You Can See, Given That I Have Something Like 65 Canvases Covered With Paint And I'll Be Needing More Since The Place Is Quite Out Of The Ordinary; So I'm Going To Order Some More Canvases.

Order

Ordinary

Enthusiasm

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.

Garden

Blue

Chocolate

I Am Pleased With The Exhibition... Everything On Display Was Sold For A Good Price To Decent People. It Has Been A Long Time Since I Believed That You Could Educate Public Taste.

Long

People

Exhibitions

Ninety Per Cent Of The Theory Of Impressionist Painting Is In . . . Ruskin's Elements.

Elements

Painting

Ninety

I Must Have Flowers, Always, And Always.

Flower

Flower Garden

Techniques Vary, Art Stays The Same; It Is A Transposition Of Nature At Once Forceful And Sensitive.

Art

Technique

Sensitive

One's Better Off Alone, And Yet There Are So Many Things That Are Impossible To Fathom On One's Own. In Fact It's A Terrible Business And The Task Is A Hard One.

Solitude

Tasks

Facts

No One But Myself Knows The Anxiety I Go Through And The Trouble I Give Myself To Finish Paintings Which Do Not Satisfy Me And Seem To Please So Very Few Others.

Giving

Anxiety

Painting

Gardening Was Something I Learned In My Youth When I Was Unhappy. I Perhaps Owe Having Become A Painter To Flowers.

Flower

Garden

Unhappy

The Thames Was All Gold. God It Was Beautiful, So Fine That I Began Working A Frenzy, Following The Sun And Its Reflections On The Water.

Beautiful

Reflection

Water

My Life Has Been Nothing But A Failure.

Failure

Has Beens

One Day Boudin Said To Me, 'learn To Draw Well And Appreciate The Sea, The Light, The Blue Sky.' I Took His Advice.

Light

Blue

Sea

When I Work I Forget All The Rest.

Forget

I Can No Longer Work Outside Because Of The Intensity Of The Light.

Light

Work Out

Intensity

My Garden Is A Slow Work, Pursued With Love And I Do Not Deny That I Am Proud Of It. Forty Years Ago, When I Established Myself Here, There Was Nothing But A Farmhouse And A Poor Orchard...i Bought The House And Little By Little I Enlarged And Organized It...i Dug, Planted Weeded, Myself; In The Evenings The Children Watered.

Children

Garden

Years

I Never Draw Except With Brush And Paint.

Drawing

Paint

Brushes

All I Did Was To Look At What The Universe Showed Me, To Let My Brush Bear Witness To It.

Looks

Bears

Brushes

The Real Subject Of Every Painting Is Light.

Real

Light

Painting

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.

Sleep

Pigs

Devil

I'm In Fine Fettle And Fired With A Desire To Paint.

Desire

Paint

Fine

The Only Merit I Have Is To Have Painted Directly From Nature With The Aim Of Conveying My Impressions In Front Of The Most Fugitive Effects.

Merit

Fugitive

Impression

If The World Really Looks Like That I Will Paint No More!

Looks

World

Paint

It's On The Strength Of Observation And Reflection That One Finds A Way. So We Must Dig And Delve Unceasingly.

Artist

Reflection

Way

Despite My Extremely Modest Prices, Dealers And Art Lovers Are Turning Their Backs On Me. It Is Very Depressing To See The Lack Of Interest Shown In An Art Object Which Has No Market Value.

Depressing

Art

Lovers

I Don’t Think I’m Made For Any Earthly Kind Of Pleasure.

Thinking

Kind

Pleasure

I Do What I Can To Convey What I Experience Before Nature And Most Often, In Order To Succeed In Conveying What I Feel, I Totally Forget The Most Elementary Rules Of Painting, If They Exist That Is.

Order

Succeed

Painting

I've Said It Before And Can Only Repeat That I Owe Everything To Boudin And I Attribute My Success To Him. I Came To Be Fascinated By His Studies, The Products Of What I Call Instantaneity.

Study

Masters

Attributes

I Haven't Yet Managed To Capture The Colour Of This Landscape; There Are Moments When I'm Appalled At The Colours I'm Having To Use, I'm Afraid What I'm Doing Is Just Dreadful And Yet I Really Am Understating It; The Light Is Simply Terrifying.

Light

Use

Landscape

I Do Have A Dream, A Tableau Of The Bathing Place Of La Grenouillère, For Which I've Done Some Bad Pochades (sketches), But It Is A Dream. Renoir, Who Have Just Spent A Couple Of Months Here, Also Wants To Paint This Subject.

Dream

Couple

Months

The Effect Of Sincerity Is To Give One's Work The Character Of A Protest. The Painter, Being Concerned Only With Conveying His Impression, Simply Seeks To Be Himself And No One Else.

Character

Giving

Sincerity

Apart From Painting And Gardening, I'm Not Good At Anything.

Gardening

Painting

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.

Appreciate

Painting

Pleasure

The Light Constantly Changes, And That Alters The Atmosphere And Beauty Of Things Every Minute.

Garden

Light

Atmosphere

I've Only Myself To Blame For It, My Impotence Most Of All And My Weakness. If I Do Any Good Work Now It Will Be Only By Chance.

Weakness

Chance

Blame

These Landscapes Of Water And Reflections Have Become An Obsession. It's Quite Beyond My Powers At My Age, And Yet I Want To Succeed In Expressing What I Feel.

Reflection

Water

Age

You Might Perhaps Like To See The Few Canvases I Was Able To Save From The Bailiffs And The Rest, Since I Thought You Might Be So Good As To Help Me A Little, As I Am In Quite A Desperate State, And The Worst Is That I Can No Longer Even Work.

Littles

Might

Able

I'm Not Performing Miracles, I'm Using Up And Wasting A Lot Of Paint.

Miracle

Paint

Performing

The More I Live, The More I Regret How Little I Know

Regret

Littles

I Regret

My Work Is Always Better When I Am Alone And Follow My Own Impressions.

Being Alone

Creativity

Impression

Never, Even As A Child, Would I Bend To A Rule.

Children

Perhaps It's True That I'm Very Hard On Myself, But That's Better Than Exhibiting Mediocre Work... Too Few Were Satisfactory Enough To Trouble The Public With.

Mediocrity

Trouble

Enough

I Let A Good Many Mistakes Show Through When Fixing My Sensations. It Will Always Be The Same And This Is What Makes Me Despair.

Mistake

Good Man

Despair

You'll Understand, I'm Sure That I'm Chasing The Merest Sliver Of Color. It's My Own Fault. I Want To Grasp The Intangible. It's Terrible How The Light Runs Out. Color, Any Color, Lasts A Second, Sometimes 3 Or 4 Minutes At Most.

Running

Light

Color

I Am Good At Only Two Things, And Those Are Gardening And Painting.

Two

Gardening

Painting

It Really Is Appallingly Difficult To Do Something Which Is Complete In Every Respect, And I Think Most People Are Content With Mere Approximations. Well, My Dear Friend, I Intend To Battle On, Scrape Off And Start Again.

Thinking

People

Battle

It Would Be A Very Bad Idea... To Exhibit Even A Small Number Of This New Series, As The Whole Effect Can Only Be Achieved From An Exhibition Of The Entire Group.

Ideas

Numbers

Groups

Impressionism Is Only Direct Sensation. All Great Painters Were Less Or More Impressionists. It Is Mainly A Question Of Instinct, And Much Simpler Than [john Singer] Sargent Thinks.

Thinking

Singers

Instinct

The Richness I Achieve Comes From Nature, The Source Of My Inspiration.

Inspirational

Life

Happiness

It Was At Home I Learned The Little I Know. Schools Always Appeared To Me Like A Prison, And Never Could I Make Up My Mind To Stay There, Not Even For Four Hours A Day, When The Sunshine Was Inviting, The Sea Smooth, And When It Was Joy To Run About The Cliffs In The Free Air, Or To Paddle In The Water.

Running

Home

Learning

My Garden Is My Most Beautiful Masterpiece

Beautiful

Art

Garden

Getting Up At 4 In The Morning, I Slave Away All Day Until By The Evening I'm Exhausted, And I End By Forgetting All My Responsibilities, Thinking Only Of The Work I've Set Out To Do.

Morning

Responsibility

Thinking

I Will Bring Lots Of Studies Back With Me So I Can Work On Some Big Things At Home.

Home

Study

Bigs

I'm Very Happy, Very Delighted. I'm Setting To Like A Fighting Cockerel, For I'm Surrounded Here By All That I Love.

Fighting

Very Happy

Settings

Manet Wanted One Day To Paint My Wife And Children. Renoir Was There. He Took A Canvas And Began Painting Them, Too. After A While, Manet Took Me Aside And Whispered, 'you're On Very Good Terms With Renoir And Take An Interest In His Future - Do Advise Him To Give Up Painting! You Can See For Yourself That It's Not His Metier At All.

Children

Giving Up

Wife

I'm Never Finished With My Paintings; The Further I Get, The More I Seek The Impossible And The More Powerless I Feel.

Finishing

Impossible

Painting

I'm In A Foul Mood As I'm Making Stupid Mistakes... This Morning I Lost Beyond Repair A Painting With Which I Had Been Happy, Having Done About Twenty Sessions On It; It Had To Be Thoroughly Scraped Away... What A Rage I Was In!

Morning

Mistake

Stupid

I've Been Working So Hard That I'm Exhausted... I Feel I Won't Be Able To Do Without A Few Weeks' Rest, So I'm Going Off To See The Sea.

Sea

Relaxation

Able

I'm Enjoying The Most Perfect Tranquillity, Free From All Worries, And In Consequence Would Like To Stay This Way Forever, In A Peaceful Corner Of The Countryside Like This.

Peace

Perfect

Worry

I Sometimes Feel Ashamed That I Am Devoting Myself To Artistic Pursuits While So Many Of Our People Are Suffering And Dying For Us. It's True That Fretting Never Did Any Good.

People

Suffering

Dying

For Me, The Subject Is Of Secondary Importance: I Want To Convey What Is Alive Between Me And The Subject.

Art

Alive

Want

I've Always Refused Requests Even From Friends To Employ A Technique I Know Nothing About.

Technique

Request

Knows

Zaandam Has Enough To Paint For A Lifetime.

Lifetime

Enough

Paint

Now I Really Feel The Landscape, I Can Be Bold And Include Every Tone Of Pink And Blue: It's Enchanting, It's Delicious, And I Hope It Will Please You.

Blue

Landscape

Tone

Think Of Me Getting Up Before 6, I'm At Work By 7 And I Continue Until 6.30 In The Evening, Standing Up All The Time, Nine Canvases. It's Murderous.

Thinking

Nine

Evening

I Waited For The Idea To Consolidate, For The Grouping And Composition Of Themes To Settle Themselves In My Brain.

Ideas

Brain

Settling

Everything Changes, Even Stone.

Change

Stones

Things Change

My Heart Is Forever In Giverny.

Heart

Forever

My Heart

I Didn't Become An Impressionist. As Long As I Can Remember I Always Have Been One.

Long

Remember

Has Beens

It Would Be Asking Too Much To Want To Sell Only To Connoisseurs - That Way Starvation Lies.

Lying

Would Be

Asking

I've Done What I Could As A Painter And That Seems To Me To Be Sufficient. I Don't Want To Be Compared To The Great Masters Of The Past, And My Painting Is Open To Criticism; That's Enough.

Past

Criticism

Done

My Eyes Were Finally Opened And I Understood Nature. I Learned At The Same Time To Love It.

Nature

Eye

Understood

I Get Madder And Madder On Giving Back What I Feel.

Giving

Giving Back

Feels

My Rejection At The Salon Brought An End To My Hesitation [to Settle In Paris] Since After This Failure I Can No Longer Claim To Cope... Alas, That Fatal Rejection Has Virtually Taken The Bread Out Of My Mouth.

Taken

Paris

Rejection

I Would Love To Do Orange And Lemon Trees Silhouetted Against The Blue Sea, But I Cannot Find Them The Way I Want Them.

Orange

Blue

Sea

It Seems To Me That When I See Nature I See It Ready-made, Completely Written - But Then, Try To Do It!

Trying

Made

Difficulty

I Would Advise Young Artists To Paint As They Can, As Long As They Can, Without Being Afraid Of Painting Badly.

Artist

Long

Painting

It's The Hardest Thing To Be Alone In Being Satisfied With What One's Done.

Loneliness

Done

Hardest

I Would Like To Paint The Way A Bird Sings.

Art

Bird

Way

Now, More Than Ever, I Realize Just How Illusory My Undeserved Success Has Been. I Still Hold Out Some Hope Of Doing Better, But Age And Unhappiness Have Sapped My Strength.

Success

Age

Realizing

I Perhaps Owe Having Become A Painter To Flowers.

Art

Nature

Flower

Lots Of People Will Protest That It's Quite Unreal And That I'm Out Of My Mind, But That's Just Too Bad

People

Mind

Criticism

What I Need Most Of All Is Color, Always, Always.

Garden

Color

Needs

My Aim Is To Give You Only The Things With Which I Am Completely Satisfied, Even If It Means Asking You A Little More [time] For Them... For If I Were To Do Otherwise I'd Turn Into A Mere Painting Machine And You Would Be Landed With A Pile Of Incomplete Work Which Would Put Off The Most Enthusiastic Of Art Collectors.

Art

Mean

Giving

It Is A Tragedy That We Live In A World Where Physical Courage Is So Common, And Moral Courage Is So Rare.

Tragedy

World

Moral

Nothing In The Whole World Is Of Interest To Me But My Painting And My Flowers.

Art

Flower

World

My Only Desire Is An Intimate Infusion With Nature, And The Only Fate I Wish Is To Have Worked And Lived In Harmony With Her Laws.

Nature

Travel

Fate

What Could Be Said About Me...a Man To Whom Only His Painting Matters? And Of Course His Garden And His Flowers As Well.

Flower

Men

Garden

When It Is Dark, It Seems To Me As If I Were Dying, And I Can't Think Any More.

Dark

Thinking

Light

One Can Do Something If One Can See And Understand It.

Understanding

Can Do Something

Can Do

Color Is My Day-long Obsession, Joy And Torment.

Motivational

Art

Color

It's Enough To Drive You Crazy, Trying To Depict The Weather, The Atmosphere, The Ambience.

Crazy

Weather

Atmosphere

What Is It That's Taken Hold Of Me, For Me To Carry On Like This In Relentless Pursuit Of Something Beyond My Powers?

Taken

Relentless

Relentless Pursuit

Color Is My Day-long Obsession, Joy And Torment. To Such An Extent Indeed That One Day, Finding Myself At The Deathbed Of A Woman Who Had Been And Still Was Very Dear To Me, I Caught Myself In The Act Of Focusing On Her Temples And Automatically Analyzing The Succession Of Appropriately Graded Colors Which Death Was Imposing On Her Motionless Face.

Color

Long

Joy

Thanks To My Work Everything's Going Well; It's A Great Consolation.

Gratitude

Thanks

Consolation

Without The Fog, London Would Not Be A Beautiful City. It Is Fog That Gives It Its Magnificent Amplitude...its Regular And Massive Blocks Become Grandiose In That Mysterious Mantle.

Beautiful

Block

Fog

No One Is An Artist Unless He Carries His Picture In His Head Before Painting It, And Is Sure Of His Method And Composition.

Art

Painting

Method

A Good Impression Is Lost So Quickly.

Lost

Impression

Impressionism

If Only The Weather Would Improve, There'd Be Hope Of Some Work, But Every Day Brings Rain.

Rain

Weather

Ifs

I Insist Upon 'doing It Alone'... I Have Always Worked Better Alone And From My Own Impressions.

Impression

My Own

It Is Only Too Easy To Catch People's Attention By Doing Something Worse Than Anyone Else Has Dared To Do It Before.

People

Attention

Easy

I'm Working Hard With More Determination Than Ever. My Success At The Salon Led To My Selling Several Paintings And Since Your Absence I Have Made 800 Francs; I Hope, When I Have Contracts With More Dealers, It Will Be Better Still.

Determination

Painting

Absence

Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

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2. The Importance of Quotes

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Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.

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Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.

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3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.

3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.

3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.

4. Proper Usage of Quotes

4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.

4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.

4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

5. Common Mistakes to Avoid

5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.

5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.

5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.

6. Quotes in Different Contexts

6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.

6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.

6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.

7. Punctuation and Formatting

Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:

Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.

Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.

Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.

8. Ethical Considerations

Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes

Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.

Conclusion

Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.

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