Alfred Stevens: Impressions on Painting

"The Lady with the Umbrella"
by Alfred Stevens

In 1886 Alfred Stevens published his thoughts on painting in a small book entitled "Impressions sur la Peinture." Knowing how reluctant publishers are to risk their money, the fact that this book came out in separate French, English and American editions is proof of its success and, no doubt, its influence. Because 'Impressions' is simply a collection of thoughts on art, succinctly expressed, it is easily read.

Below are a few examples:

"The student should learn to draw, as much as possible, with his brush."

 

"It is better to give a nail's breadth of one's self than an arm's length of what belongs to others."

 

"A painter is only great when he is a master workman."

 

"Great workers must not be confounded with mere drudges."

 

"A painter, however mediocre, who has depicted the era in which he lives will become more interesting in time than he who, having more talent, portrays an epoch he has never seen."

 

"One should formulate aesthetically and not imitate servilely."

 

"Once the painter has a great artistic soul, the tortoise becomes as interesting as the horse, much more difficult to execute, the soul of the painter giving its imprint to everything."

 

"People have a sad tendency to run after the qualities of their neighbors and to neglect those with which they themselves are endowed."

 

"I would rather have painted four bladders and a palette, as did Chardin, than the 'Entrance of Alexander into Babylon' of Lebrun, the official painter of Louis XIV."

 

"There should be no haste in the erection of a statue to a man. Neither should we hasten to introduce our masters into the Louvre. Time alone is an infallible classifier."

"The more one knows, the more one simplifies."

"A man's hand has the same expression as his face."

"In painting, it is an art to know when to stop."

 

"A fine picture, the effect of which is admired at a distance, ought equally to bear analysis when looked at near by."

"If the old masters could return to earth, no matter what school, be assured that they would not hesitate to cause not a few of their works to disappear."

 

"In a portrait, it is better to let the sitter take an habitual pose than to strive for effect by an unusual one."

"Before thinking of pleasing the public, one should be satisfied with himself."

"The moon beautifies everything. It lends accent to sterile landscapes that the sun itself is powerless to animate, because it suppresses details and gives value only to the mass."

"Nothing is as useful as comparison."

"By looking at the palette of a painter, one knows with whom one is dealing."

 

"If a painter represents Rembrandt in his studio he is dominated by Rembrandt; in spite of himself he seeks for effects of light and shade; if he represents Veronese he is possessed by Veronese, and will seek for open-air effects. One enters involuntarily into the temperament of the painter whom one wishes to recall."

 

"A man should have the courage not to allow the successes of the Salon, the opinion of the press or the contingency of recompenses to occupy his mind, and should be chiefly concerned with living up to his own ideal."

 

"Do not exert yourself to make too perfect studies from nature. A study should be an exercise without pretension."

 

"There is no artist's studio, even a mediocre one, in which a study may not be found superior to his finished works."

 

"To paint a good portrait, it is indispensable to enter into the spirit and the character of the model, and to compel one's self to depict him not only by exactly reproducing his features, but more particularly by interpreting his mind." 

"Painting is nature seen through the prism of an emotion."

"To make a pupil paint many flowers is excellent instruction."

"The masters have not always produced masterpieces. Happy he who, in our day, shall be able to leave behind him a fine bit of painting!"

"The born painter never believes that he has succeeded; he is constantly seeking to enlarge and elevate his art, even above his strength; that is, besides, for an artist, the only means of not weakening at a certain age."

"The painter contemplating nature should depict it so as to preserve the flavor of his first impression."

"Too good sight is often a fatal gift to a painter, because the retina is maddened by seeing too many things in detail."

"People do not trouble themselves enough in our day about the workmanship, the trade, painting for painting's sake; but they will be forced to return to it, and only those who possess this master quality will be certain of immortality."

"The sincere approbation of his professional comrades is, for the painter, the most flattering of recompenses."

"So many painters stop where difficulty begins!"

"Painting executed in the open air gains in the studio."

"One should sometimes place his picture in the penumbra in order to properly judge if it preserves its harmony."

"Nothing can equal the happiness that a painter feels when, after a day's work, he is satisfied with the task accomplished. But, in the contrary case, what despair he experiences!"

 

(Excerpts from both "Alfred Stevens" by Peter Mitchell and "Impressions on Painting" by Alfred Stevens.)