Edgar Degas Quotes

I always suspect an artist who is successful before he is dead.

I believe Corot painted a tree better that any of us, but still I find him superior in his figures.

Art is not what you see but what you make others see

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see

Visitor: Monsieur Degas, were there any of Monet's pictures at the Durand-Ruel exhibition?
Degas: Why, I met Monet himself there, and I said to him, 'Let me get out of here. Those reflections in the water hurt my eyes!' His pictures were always too draughty for me. If it had been any worse I should have had to turn up my coat collar.

Vollard, please do not say anything against fashions. Have you ever asked yourself what would happen if there were no fashions? How would women spent their time? What would they have to talk about? Life would become unbearable for us men. Why, if women were to break away from the rules of fashion - fortunately there is no danger - the government would have to step in and take a hand.

À vous il faut la vie naturelle, à moi la vie factice.

I, marry? Oh, I could never bring myself to do it. I would have been in mortal misery all my life for fear my wife might say, "That's a pretty little thing," after I had finished a picture.

What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

I'm glad to say I haven't found my style yet. I'd be bored to death.

pinkish and bluish draperies on neutral grey grounds and black cypresses... ...The red of Jeptha's dress... ...some reddish brown, some slightly pinkish... ...Graduated blue sky... ...the ground at the front a grey violet shadow... Look for some turquoise in the blue.(Degas' working note about choosing colors for his future painting 'The Daughter of Jeptha')

Drawing is not the same as form; it is a way of seeing form.

It is very good to copy what one sees; it is much better to draw what you can't see any more but is in your memory. It is a transformation in which imagination and memory work together. You only reproduce what struck you, that is to say the necessary.

Je voudrais être illustre et inconnu.