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Emile Zola to Cezanne, 30 December 1859
"When you take up your brushes: 'my son, my son,' says your father, 'think of the future. One dies with genius, and one eats with
money.' Ah! Unfortunately, my poor Cezanne, life is a billiard ball which does not always roll where the hand would like to push
it..."
Emile Zola to Cezanne, 16 April, 1860
"there are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman..."
Cezanne to Emile Zola, 19 October 1866
"But you know all pictures painted inside, in the studio, will never be as good as those done outside. When out-of-door scenes
are represented, the contrasts between the figures and the ground is astounding and the landscape is magnificent. I see some
superb things and I shall have to make up my mind only to do things out-of-doors."
Cezanne to Joachim Gasquet, 30 April 1896
"All my life I have worked to be able to earn my living, but I thought that one could do good painting without attracting
attention to one's private life. Certainly, an artist wishes to raise himself intellectually as much as possible, but the man
must remain obscure. The pleasure must be found in the work."
Cezanne to Charles Camoin, 28 January 1902
"...one says more and perhaps better things about painting when facing the motif than when discussing purely speculative theories
-- in which as often as not one loses oneself."
Cezanne to Louis Aurenche, 10 March 1902 [ed. trying to lighten his spirits)
"A little bit of confidence in yourself and work. Don't ever forget your art, sic itur ad astra [trans: 'thus one reaches the
stars']"
Cezanne to Charles Camoin, 22 February 1903
"Everything, especially in art, is theory developed and applied in contact with nature."
Cezanne to Charles Camoin, 13 September 1903
"Couture used to say to his pupils: 'keep good company, that is: go to the Louvre. But after having seen the great masters who
repose there, we must hasten out and by contact with nature revive within ourselves the instincts, the artistic sensations which
live in us.' ... What shall I wish you: good studies made after nature, that is the best thing."&
Cezanne to Emile Bernard, 15 April 1904
"May I repeat what I told you here: treat nature by means of the cylinder, the sphere, the cone, everything brought into proper
perspective so that each side of an object or a plane is directed towards a central point. Lines parallel to the horizon give
breadth... lines perpendicular to this horizon give depth. But nature for us men is more depth than surface, whence the need to
introduce into our light vibrations, represented by the reds and yellows, a sufficient amount of blueness to give the feel of
air."
Cezanne to Emile Bernard, 12 May 1904
"The artist must scorn all judgment that is not based on an intelligent observation of character. He must beware of the literary
spirit which so often causes the painter to deviate from his true path -- the concrete study of nature -- to lose himself too
long in intangible speculation. The Louvre is a good book to consult but it must be only an intermediary. The real and immense
study to be undertaken is the manifold picture of nature."
Cezanne to Emile Bernard, 26 May 1904
"But I must always come back to this: painters must devote themselves entirely to the study of nature and try to produce pictures
which will be an education. Talking about art is almost useless. The work which brings about some progress in one's own craft is
sufficient compensation for not being understood by imbeciles."
Cezanne to Emile Bernard, 25 July 1904
"Don't be an art critic, but paint, there lies salvation."
Cezanne to Emile Bernard, 1905
"The Louvre is the book in which we learn to read. We must not, however, be satisfied with retaining the beautiful formulas of
our illustrious predecessors. Let us go forth to study beautiful nature, let us try to free our minds from them, let us strive to
express ourselves according to our personal temperment. Time and reflection, moreover, modify little by little our vision, and at
last comprehension comes to us."
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