Painting is first of all the art of imitation, and not the servant of some imaginary 'purity' - Maurice Denis

Art is the sanctification of the nature, of that nature found in everyone who is content to live.

Remember that a picture, before being a battle horse, a female nude or some sort of anecdote, is essentially a flat surface covered with colors assembled in a certain order.

What amazement, followed by what a revelation! In place of windows opening on nature, like the impressionists, these were surfaces which were solidly decorative, powerfully colorful, bordered with brutal strokes, partitioned.