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. — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
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. — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
“Art in painting should consist only of the representation of things that are visible and tangible.” — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
Titles have never given a just idea of things; were it otherwise, the work would be superfluous. — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
When I am dead, let it be said of me: he belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy,… — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
“The title of Realist was thrust upon me just as the title of Romantic was imposed upon the men of 1830. Titles have never… — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside. — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom; I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in… — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
“The real artists are those who pick up their age exactly at the point to which it has been carried by preceding times. To… — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
Painting is the representation of visible forms. The essence of realism is its negation of the ideal. — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
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… — Gustave Courbet Copy Share Image
