I have never seen either angels or Goddesses, so I am not interested in painting them. — Gustave Courbet
France is the only nation in which astoundingly small numbers of civilized patrons reside. — Gustave Courbet
I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom; I am one who is fond of olden times — Gustave Courbet
Beauty, like truth, is relative to the time when one lives and to the individual who can grasp it. — Gustave Courbet
The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. — Gustave Courbet
Painting is the representation of visible forms. The essence of realism is its negation of the ideal. — Gustave Courbet
Painting is an essentially concrete art and can only consist of the representation of real and existing things. — Gustave Courbet