The 110 best phrases of Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne was a French-born painter known for being part of the Post-Impressionist movement, but above all he was set in history as "the father of modern painting".
It is said that his works were a necessary transition to the way of painting in the 20th century, also becoming known as "the painter's painter". To better understand his way of thinking and his artistic work, here we will a review of the best phrases of Paul Cézanne, commented.
- Related article: "165 wise phrases to reflect on life"
Great phrases of Paul Cézanne
To remember the great work and influence of this painter, here we will see a list of the best phrases of Paul Cézanne, which show us his way of applying creativity and art to life.
1. There are two things in a painter: the eye and the mind. Each helps the other.
The most important tools of every painter.
2. Genius is the ability to renew everyday emotions.
A way to see genius.
3. Art is a harmony parallel to nature.
Art seen as a gift from nature.
- You may be interested: "The 140 best phrases of Nature (and famous quotes)"
4. Shadow is a color like light, but less bright.
Shadow is also part of colors.
5. The day will come when a single carrot, seen with new eyes, will trigger a revolution.
It is not about what we see, but how we perceive it. So that's how life changes.
6. The painter has to dedicate himself entirely to the study of nature and try to make pictures that are a teaching.
The duty of the painter according to Cézanne.
7. The awareness of our own strength makes us modest.
Knowing our value makes us humble, because we don't need to prove anything to anyone.
8. We must not paint what we think we see, but what we see.
Each painting is the way of seeing the world according to the painters.
9. The contrasts and the relation of the forms constitute the secret of the drawing and the outline.
The well used technique makes a big difference.
10. Art talks are almost useless.
Study is necessary, but it is impossible to improve if there is no practice.
11. As a painter, I become more lucid in front of Nature.
Nature being his greatest source of inspiration.
12. When color is at its richest, form is at its fullest.
Color brings paintings to life.
13. Line and modeling do not exist.
For Cézanne, rigid structures do not exist.
14. Work that advances his own trade is compensation enough for the imbeciles not to understand.
Dedication is the key to progress.
15. Nature must be treated through the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, establishing a global perspective, so that each side of an object, of a plane, is directed towards a central point.
The way nature should be seen in art.
- Related article: "What is creativity? Are we all "potential geniuses"?
16. The drawing is produced by the contrast or by the relation of the tones.
The way in which the drawing is born.
17. Light and shadow are just the relationship of two tones.
They are two poles that exist in the same world.
18. It is not about painting life, it is about making painting alive.
Each painting is full of life when the artist places part of it in it.
19. The more harmonious the color, the more accurate the drawing. When the color is richest, the form is in fullness.
Color is an essential part of what we see in the drawing.
20. Everyone is crazy about the Impressionists, what art needs is a Poussin made more in accordance with nature.
Proposing a necessary change to impressionism.
21. The drawing and the color are not different, as it is painted it is drawn.
They are elements that complement each other and blend into one.
22. There is a logic of colors to which the painter should adapt, which is not the logic of the brain.
It is an emotional logic.
23. All theories confuse you inside.
That is why you must find your own way.
24. Color is where our brain and the universe meet.
A direct relationship with the universe.
- Related article: "The 120 best phrases of painters"
25. Nature is not on the surface, it is deep down.
Nature is more than what we see with the naked eye.
26. The Louvre Museum is the book in which we learn to read. But let's get out of there to study the beautiful nature, let's try to extract its spirit, let's try to express ourselves following our personal temperament.
The museum as a teacher that encourages us to find our place in the world.
27. An art that is not based on feeling is not art.
Art is not free from feelings.
28. Painting nature is not copying an object, it is the realization of a sensation.
Drawing nature is to harmonize with the world.
29. I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years without stopping and still feel like I didn't know anything.
There are things we will never fully know.
30. Don't be an art critic. Pinta. Salvation is found there.
We all have the ability to enjoy art.
31. The painter has two things: sight and brain, both must help each other: it is necessary to try to develop them mutually; sight through natural vision, the brain through the logic of organized sensations, which gives the means of expression.
The way the artist develops his most powerful tools.
32. Keep in good company, that is, go to the Louvre.
The Louvre Museum as a benchmark of art.
33. We live in a rainbow of chaos.
Chaos is part of life.
34. When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God-made object like a tree or a flower. If it crashes, it's not art.
The particular way in which he judges art.
- You may be interested: "The 60 best phrases of Art"
35. My nervous system is weakened, only work on oils can sustain me.
The weakness he felt when he was already in his last moments.
36. One does not replace oneself with the past, one more than adds to a new link.
The past will always be part of us.
37. Light is not a thing that can be reproduced, but something that must be represented using something else… Colors.
Light is a part of colors.
38. When I outline the skin of a beautiful peach with soft touches of paint or a sad old apple, I glimpse in the reflections that they exchange the same soft shadow of renunciation, the same love of the sun, the same I remember. of the dew
The way he goes into detail.
39. Nature is the best instructor.
Nature was the best teacher for Cézanne.
40. Right now a moment of time is passing... We must become at that time.
Motivating us to be part of the present and live.
41. We must not be satisfied with memorizing the beautiful formulas of our illustrious predecessors. Let's go out and study beautiful nature.
Once again it reminds us that it is useless to learn everything if we are not going to take things on our own.
42. Why do we divide the world? Does this reflect our selfishness?
What is the use of dividing the world and creating more chaos?
43. Literature expresses itself through abstractions, while painting, through drawing and color, concretizes sensations and perceptions.
The power of literature.
44. The truth is in nature, and I will prove it.
Proving that all inspiration is found in nature.
45. The painter unfolds what has not been seen.
It does not offer a vision of the world that we do not know.
46. The prism is our first step towards God, our seven beatitudes.
Art as something divine.
47. I ask you to pray for me, for the age once overtaken us, we find solace only in religion.
Being aware of the passage of time in his life.
- Related article: "The origins of religion: how did it appear and why?"
48. The painter must close himself within his work, but he must respond not with words, but with paintings.
Painting is a form of expression.
49. If I think, all is lost.
A person who preferred to let go.
50. The most seductive thing about art is the very personality of the artist.
An enigma that can be seen in each work of art of his authorship.
51. Time and reflection change the view little by little until we come to understand.
Time is a cruel and wise teacher.
52. You have to hurry if you want to see something, everything disappears.
There are things that don't last forever.
53. The sun penetrates me without noise like a distant friend that stirs my laziness, makes it fruitful. We produce life.
The sun is the greatest giver of life in nature.
54. Art must make nature eternal in our imagination.
One of the goals of art according to the father of modern art.
55. The eye absorbs... The brain produces forms.
The way they both work together.
56. It's not just about looking and copying, it's also about feeling.
When feelings are placed within a work, it comes to life.
57. You must think. The eye is not enough; you need to think too.
To put something on canvas, you must first see it in your mind.
58. Sometimes I imagine colors as if they were living ideas, being pure reason with which to communicate.
The way you see colors.
59. The eye absorbs... The brain produces forms.
60. Pure drawing is an abstraction.
Each artist has their way of expressing themselves.
61. Impressionism, what does it mean? It is the optical mixture of colors... which are broken down on the canvas and reassembled by eye.
Explaining what impressionism is all about.
62. People who say that the artist is always inferior to nature are idiots! He is parallel to it. At least, of course, he does and intervenes voluntarily.
For Cézanne, every artist must be in tune with nature.
63. Everything we look at scatters and fades away. It is not like this?
Things don't stay the same.
64. Under this fine rain I breathe the innocence of the world.
The breadth of his feelings with nature.
65. The artist makes things concrete and gives them individuality.
Each painter offers his personal essence in his works.
- You may be interested: "What is imagination?"
66. In my ideal of a good painting; there is unity.
What you think is a perfect work.
67. The more the colors harmonize, the more accurate the drawing becomes.
Everything is about harmony, even in chaos.
68. It is so good and yet so terrible to stand before a blank canvas.
A mixture of sensations that can inspire or consume you.
69. If isolation tempers the strong, it is the stumbling block of the uncertain.
Talking about isolation, something he was well known for.
70. I lack the magnificent richness of color that animates nature.
It is impossible to replicate nature perfectly.
71. Is art really the priesthood that demands the pure of heart that belongs to it entirely?
A critique of what some think is art.
72. You say that a new era in art is preparing; you felt coming, continue your studies without weakening. God will do the rest.
Every age brings new changes.
73. The landscape becomes human, it becomes a thinking being, I live inside of me.
The landscape mixes with the human essence when it is captured on a canvas.
74. Right now a moment of time is fleeting by! Capture their reality in paint! To do that, we must put everything else out of our minds.
The way in which the greatest paintings arise.
75. I try to do perspective through color.
His way of creating perspective in drawing.
76. But if there is the slightest distraction, the slightest mishap, especially if I interpret too much one day, if today I I let myself be carried away by a theory that contradicts yesterday's, if I think while I paint, if I get in the way, yuck! crumbles.
Distraction is the punishment of many artists.
77. I can tell you that you can do things on the surface... but when you go deeper, you automatically go to the truth.
The truth is within us.
78. But there is better. Simplicity, be direct. Everything else is just a game, just building castles in the sky.
Simplicity can defeat any extravagance.
79. I see colors, I joyfully strive to convey them to my canvas as I see them. They organize as they choose, the old-fashioned way. Sometimes that makes a photo.
Using the technique of photography to perceive colors in your mind.
80. I am more a friend of art than a producer of paint.
This is because art was a natural part of his life.
81. I have come to the conclusion that it is not really possible to help others.
Help is effective in those people who want to be helped.
82. Nature for us men is more depth than surface, hence the need to introduce in our vibrations of light, represented by reds and yellows, a sufficient amount of blue to give the sensation of air.
About what nature means to some people.
- Related article: "The 5 ages of History (and their characteristics)"
83. The painter owes allegiance to peace, not to the logic of the brain. If you abandon yourself to that logic, you have lost.
Logic can be an enemy in art.
84. You really need to see and feel your subject very clearly, and then if I express myself with distinction and power, there is my Poussin, there is my classicism.
Inspired by who else admired.
85. The world does not understand me and I do not understand the world, so I have withdrawn from it.
Having a bad relationship with society's standards.
86. What I am trying to translate for you is more mysterious, it is intertwined in the very roots of being, in the implacable source of sensations.
His art leads us to think further.
87. I would like to put reason in the grass and tears in the sky.
His way of blending into nature.
88. The reading of the model and its realization are sometimes things that take time to arrive.
Everything has its time, even in inspiration.
89. Long live the sun that gives us such a beautiful color.
The sun offers us all its energy.
90. Here at the river's edge I could be busy for months without changing my spot, just leaning a little more to the right or left:
Nature being your home.
91. I would like to combine melancholy and sunshine.
For Cézanne, joy has certain shades of melancholy.
92. Basically, I don't think about anything when I paint.
He lets himself be carried away by what he feels.
93. You feel a healthy need to be honest. You prefer to disassemble your canvas than to invent or imagine a detail. You want to know.
Holding the truth in esteem.
94. In that Renaissance (Cellini, Tintoretto, Titian...) there was an explosion of unique truthfulness, love for painting and form... Then the Jesuits come and everything is formal; everything has to be taught and learned.
The way art changed.
95. Color, if I may say so, is biological.
How he saw the nature of color.
96. We must become that moment, become a sensitive registration plate... Give the image of what we really see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time.
Being one with the moment we want to live.
97. I become one with my image... we coalesce into iridescent chaos.
Being in harmony with your interior.
98. My age and health will never allow me to realize the dream of art that I have been chasing all my life.
Life is sometimes very short.
99. I have nothing to hide in art. The initial force alone can carry no one in the end has to reach.
Art is not a mask, but a space to express the truth.
100. For an impressionist to paint from nature it is not to paint the subject, but to realize the sensations.
Impressionism is based on sensations, not logic.
101. Undoubtedly there are things in nature that have not yet been seen. If an artist discovers them, he paves the way for his successors.
Each artist leaves an important legacy for those who follow.
102. I feel colored by the shades of infinity.
Feeling a special connection with infinity.
103. With an apple I will astonish Paris.
Demonstrating that great things can be done with simple elements.
104. I know from experience. When the color is richer, the shape is fuller.
An expert in how color works.
105. The landscape thinks of me and I am the conscience of it.
Being one with nature.
106. Everything, you understand. Thus I gather the stray hands of nature... From everywhere.
Each element of nature as a whole.
107. Nature is always the same, and yet its appearance is always changing.
It shows us that we can change without losing our essence.
108. His whole goal must be silence. You must silence all the voices of prejudice within you, you have to forget... And then the whole landscape will be engraved on the sensitive plate of his being.
The objective of the painter to do the work of him.
109. I must seek the end only for the pleasure of being truer and wiser.
In search of what's next.
110. I have to keep working, so as not to reach the end, which arouses the admiration of fools.
A rebel within impressionist art.