“I have studied the art of the masters and the art of the moderns, avoiding any preconceived system and without prejudice. I have no more wanted to imitate the former than to copy the latter; nor have I thought of achieving the idle aim of art for art's sake.” ArtWantedAchieveMastersPrejudiceAimSakeFormerLatterCopiesIdleAvoidingCopying Author:Gustave Courbet
“To be able to translate the customs, ideas and appearance of my times as I see them - in a word, to create a living art - this has been my aim.” Has BeensArtIdeasAbleCultureAimAppearanceMy TimeCustomsTranslate Author:Gustave Courbet
“I deny that art can be taught, or, in other words, maintain that art is completely individual, and that the talent of each artist is but the result of his own inspiration and his own study of past tradition.” ArtInspirationPastArtistIndividualResultsEducationStudyTalentTaughtArt IsTraditionDeny Author:Gustave Courbet
“It is fatal for art if it is forced into official respectability and condemned to sterile mediocrity.” IfsArtOfficialsMediocrityRespectability Author:Gustave Courbet
“I hope always to earn my living by my art without having ever deviated by even a hair's breadth from my principles... to please anyone or to sell more easily.” ArtPrinciplesHairPleaseSellsSellingBreadth Author:Gustave Courbet
“Art or talent, for an artist, is merely a means of applying his personal faculties to the ideas and the things of the period in which he lives.” MeanArtIdeasArtistTalentPeriodsFaculty Author:Gustave Courbet
“Painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things. It is a completely physical language, the words of which consist of all visible objects. An object which is abstract, not visible, non-existent, is not within the realm of painting.” ArtRealLanguageObjectsPaintingRealmsAbstractVisibleConcreteRepresentation Author:Gustave Courbet
“I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota, without . . . having painted as much as you can cover with your hand, to please somebody or in order to sell the picture more easily.” ArtHandsOrderPrinciplesPleaseSellsHope To Live Author:Gustave Courbet
“The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it.” ArtRealityBeautifulFormArtistFoundDiverse Author:Gustave Courbet
“I hope to live all my life for my art, without abandoning my principles one iota.” ArtArtistPrinciplesHope To Live Author:Gustave Courbet
“Art is a wholly physical language whose words are all the visible objects.” ArtLanguageObjectsArt IsVisible Author:Gustave Courbet
“Painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things.” ArtRealArtistPaintingConcreteRepresentation Author:Gustave Courbet
