I Have Never Seen Either Angels Or

On The Left Is The Realist Tradition Of The 19th Century, With Its Impulse To Social Description, Radical Criticism And Meditation On Things As They Are... Culminating In Courbet At His Mightiest (the Studio, The Funeral At Ornans And A Portrait Of A Trout That Has More Death In It Than Rubens Could Get In A Whole Crucifixion).

The Principle Of Realism Means Denial Of The Ideal.

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.

Titles Have Never Given A Just Idea Of Things; Were It Otherwise, The Work Would Be Superfluous.

I Have Never Seen Either Angels Or Goddesses, So I Am Not Interested In Painting Them.