Top 31 Quotes & Sayings by Edouard Manet

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a French artist Edouard Manet.

Last updated on December 21, 2024.

Édouard Manet was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism.

French - Artist | January 23, 1832 - April 30, 1883

Source: Wikipedia

Color is a matter of taste and of sensitivity.

Edouard Manet

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

I need to work to feel well.

Edouard Manet

This woman's work is exceptional. Too bad she's not a man.

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

Black is not a color.

Edouard Manet

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

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

Edouard Manet

I would kiss you, had I the courage.

Edouard Manet

Insults are pouring down on me as thick as hail.

Edouard Manet

The attacks of which I have been the object have broken the spring of life in me... People don't realize what it feels like to be constantly insulted.

Edouard Manet

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

Concision in art is a necessity and an elegance. The verbose painter bores: who will get rid of all these trimmings?

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

You must always remain master of the situation and do what you please. No school tasks, ah, no! no tasks!

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

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

Edouard Manet

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

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

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

Above all, keep your colors fresh!

Edouard Manet