Georges Rouault quotes

Georges Rouault was a French artist associated with the Fauvist and Expressionist movements. His work is notable for its bold use of color, thick black outlines, and deeply spiritual themes. He became renowned for his unique style that blended religious subjects with modern artistic techniques. Here are 17 of his quotes:

The artist discards all theories, both his own and those of others. He forgets everything when he is in front of his canvas. (Georges Rouault)
The richness of the world, all artificial pleasures, have the taste of sickness and give off a smell of death in the face of certain spiritual possessions. View quote
Georges Rouault
The conscience of an artist worthy of the name is like an incurable disease which causes him endless torment but occasionally fills him with silent joy... View quote
Georges Rouault
Nothing is old, nothing is new, save the light of grace underneath which beats a human heart. The way of feeling, of understanding, of loving; the way of seeing the country, the faces that your father saw, that your mother knew. The rest is chimerical. View quote
Georges Rouault
Often pagans, with their eyes wide open, do not see very clearly. View quote
Georges Rouault
Like the ostrich, head under wingWhen the roaring storm breaks,So many people take refugeUnder the soft pillowOf specious arguments. View quote
Georges Rouault
A painter who loves his art must be careful not to see too much of critics and men of letters. These gentlemen, however unconsciously, distort everything, thinking that they are explaining it-the artist's thought, sensibility, and intensions. They take away his strength, just as Delilah took away Samson's. They have no gift for nuances, and they have an instinctive aversion for everything that is beyond their reach and baffles them. View quote
Georges Rouault
A tree against the sky possesses the same interest, the same character, the same expression as the figure of a human. View quote
Georges Rouault
For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh. View quote
Georges Rouault
The painter who loves his art is ruler in his own kingdom, even if he be in Lilliput and a Lilliputian himself. He transforms a kitchen maid in to a fairy, and a great lady into a brothel matron, if he wants to and sees them so, for he is a seer. His vision includes everything that is alive in the past. View quote
Georges Rouault
The old masters are perfect and admirable examples, on condition that we remember that the spirit gives life and the letter kills, and that even the best pastiche is inferior to the harmonious stammering or incoherence of a child trying to speak. (Georges Rouault)
Painting for me is merely a means of forgetting life. It is a cry in the night. A sob broken off. A strangled laugh. View quote
Georges Rouault
I am a believer and a conformist. Anyone can revolt; it is more difficult silently to obey our own interior promptings, and to spend our lives finding sincere and fitting means of expression for our temperaments and our gifts - if we have any. I do not say "neither God, nor Master," only in the end to substitute myself for the God I have excommunicated..." View quote
Georges Rouault
Subjective artists are one-eyed, but objective artists are blind. View quote
Georges Rouault
My only objective is to paint a Christ so moving that those who see him will be converted. View quote
Georges Rouault
Anyone can revolt. It is more difficult silently to obey our own inner promptings, and to spend our lives finding sincere and fitting means of expression for our temperament and our gifts. View quote
Georges Rouault
I am a believer and a conformist. View quote
Georges Rouault