Georges Rouault 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.
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...
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.
Georges Rouault
Often pagans, with their eyes wide open, do not see very clearly.
Georges Rouault
Like the ostrich, head under wingWhen the roaring storm breaks,So many people take refugeUnder the soft pillowOf specious arguments.
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.
Georges Rouault
A tree against the sky possesses the same interest, the same character, the same expression as the figure of a human.
Georges Rouault
For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh.
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.
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.
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..."
Georges Rouault
Subjective artists are one-eyed, but objective artists are blind.
Georges Rouault
My only objective is to paint a Christ so moving that those who see him will be converted.
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.
Georges Rouault
I am a believer and a conformist.
Georges Rouault