George Braque

When I begin to work, it is as though I already have my picture before me, only covered by that white powder, the canvas. All I have to do is dust it off. I have a small brush to dust off the blue areas, and I have other brushes to dust off the green and yellow areas. When everything is dusted off, the picture is complete.

It is not enough for what you paint to be visible. It must also be tangible.

There is art of the people and art for the people, the latter having been invented by intellectuals. I doubt that it was ever the intention of Beethoven or Bach, in drawing from popular airs, to establish a hierarchy.

Limited means bring about new forms. They invite creation and make style.

I like the rule that keeps emotion in check.

One cannot always hold one's hat in one's hand. This is why hangers were invented. As for myself, I have found painting to be a means of hanging up my ideas. This enables me to change them and to avoid any fixed idea.

Writing is not describing, just as painting is not representing. And verisimilitude is not trompe l'oeil.

When all is said and done, I prefer those who exploit me to those who follow me. The latter do not know me as well as they should.

The picture is complete when the idea is obliterated.

Reason is a pathway for the mind and a tumult for the soul.

Keep your mind free of concepts. One becomes obsessed by them. It did not require any profound meditation for man to drink from the hollow of his hand, from a hollow shell, or, ultimately, from a glass.

A remembrance of 1914: Joffre had no other concern than to redo the battle scenes of Vernet.

The artist who no longer encounters any resistance approaches perfection. But only a technical perfection.

With age, art and life become one.