A Mere Copier Of Nature Can Never

An Artist Who Brings To His Work A Mind Tolerably Furnished With The General Principles Of Art, And A Taste Formed Upon The Works Of Good Artists – In Short, Who Knows In What Excellence Consists - Will, With The Assistance Of Models... Be An Overmatch For The Greatest Painter That Ever Lived Who Should Be Debarred Such Advantages.

I Am Convinced That This Is The Only Means Of Advancing Science, Of Clearing The Mind From A Confused Heap Of Contradictory Observations, That Do But Perplex And Puzzle The Student, When He Compares Them, Or Misguide Him If He Gives Himself Up To Their Authority; But Bringing Them Under One General Head, Can Alone Give Rest And Satisfaction To An Inquisitive Mind.

Style In Painting Is The Same As In Writing; A Power Over Materials, Whether Words Or Colors, By Which Conceptions Or Sentiments Are Conveyed.

However Minutely Labored The Picture May Be In The Detail, The Whole Will Have A False And Even An Unfinished Appearance, At Whatever Distance, Or In Whatever Light It Can Be Shown.

Common Observation And A Plain Understanding Is The Source Of All Art.