Claude Monet

Impressionism founder

Modern influential 136 sayings

Sayings by Claude Monet

I'm so frustrated. I want to scream.

1890 — Letter to Alice Hoschedé
Humorous Unverifiable

I'm absolutely furious. I want to break something.

1890 — Letter to Alice Hoschedé
Humorous Unverifiable

I'm completely overwhelmed. I can't think straight.

1890 — Letter to Alice Hoschedé
Humorous Unverifiable

I'm so tired of these struggles. I just want to disappear.

1890 — Letter to Alice Hoschedé
Humorous Unverifiable

I'm absolutely disgusted with everything. I hate the world.

1890 — Letter to Alice Hoschedé
Humorous Unverifiable

I am following Nature without being able to grasp her...

1890 — Letter to Gustave Geffroy
Controversial Confirmed

I am only good at two things, and those are gardening and painting.

1912 — Interview with journalist
Controversial Unverifiable

I want the unobtainable. Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat… I want to paint the air that surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat – the beauty of the air in which these objects are located.

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, expressing his ambition to capture atmosphere and light.
Philosophical Unverifiable

The more I live, the more I regret how little I know.

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, reflecting on his continuous learning.
Philosophical Unverifiable

No one but myself knows the anxiety I go through and the trouble I give myself…

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, expressing his personal struggle in his artistic endeavors.
Philosophical Unverifiable

I don't think I'm made for any earthly kind of pleasure.

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, suggesting a life devoted solely to his art.
Philosophical Unverifiable

When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever.

Undated, approximate late 19th century — Advice to other painters, emphasizing focus on light and color over form.
Philosophical Unverifiable

These landscapes of water and reflection have become an obsession for me. It is beyond my strength as an old man, and yet I want to render what I feel.

Undated, approximate early 20th century — Referring to his Water Lilies series.
Philosophical Unverifiable

The essence of the motif is the mirror of water, whose appearance alters at every moment.

Undated, approximate early 20th century — Undated, referring to his Water Lilies series.
Philosophical Unverifiable

Now I really feel the landscape. I can be bold and include every tone of pink and blue: it's enchanting, it's delicious.

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, expressing his confidence and joy in painting.
Philosophical Unverifiable

We are so lucky to be painters. We see so much beauty.

Undated, approximate late 19th/early 20th century — Undated, expressing gratitude for his profession.
Philosophical Unverifiable