Frédéric Bazille Quotes

Jean Frédéric Bazille was a French Impressionist painter. Many of Bazille's major works are examples of figure painting in which he placed the subject figure within a landscape painted en plein air. Wikipedia  

✵ 6. December 1841 – 28. November 1870
Frédéric Bazille photo
Frédéric Bazille: 14   quotes 0   likes

Famous Frédéric Bazille Quotes

“I do hope, that if I ever do anything, at least to have the merit of not copying anyone.”

Quote in Bazille's letter to his father, 1864; as cited in: article: Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism, Corrinne Chong, PhD -independent scholar http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn17/chong-reviews-frederic-bazille-and-the-birth-of-impressionism
1861 - 1865

“Certain parts of the forest [the forest Bas Bréau, near Barbizon ] are truly wonderful. We can't even imagine such oak trees in Montpellier.”

Bazille's quote refers to travelling and painting together landscape in-open-air with Monet, Pisarro and Renoir, all students of the Paris art-teacher w:Charles Gleyre.
1861 - 1865
Source: Frédéric Bazille and early Impressionism, Marandel; Daulte et al. p. 155

“I have started a large landscape which is beginning to take shape.”

Quote in Bazille's letter to his father, June 1870; as cited in Impressionnism, Gary Tinterow, Henri Loyrette; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 338
1866 - 1870

“The subject matter is unimportant, provided what I have done is interesting as a painting. I chose the modern era because it is the one I understand best; I find it more alive for people who are alive.”

as quoted in: 'Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism', Corrinne Chong, PhD -independent scholar http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/autumn17/chong-reviews-frederic-bazille-and-the-birth-of-impressionism
Quotes, undated

“[ Monet is].. hard at work for some time now. His paintings has really progressed, I'm sure it will attract a lot of attention. He has sold thousands of franc's worth of paintings in the last few days, and has one or two other small commissions. He's definitely on his way.”

Quote of Bazille in a letter to his brother, December 1865; as cited in The private lives of the Impressionists, Sue Roe, Harpen Collins Publishers, New York 2006, p. 43
1861 - 1865

Frédéric Bazille Quotes

“I have no intention of being killed, there's too much I still want to do with my life.”

Quote from a late letter of Bazille he wrote in 1870, shortly before he died in the Franco-Prussian War; Bazille joined General de Barrail's staff
1866 - 1870
Source: Les Impressionists autour de Paris: tableau de banlieu avec peintres, ed. Jean-Michel Puydebat – SEM Chateau d’Auvers, 1993, p. 16

“This country [landscape around Honfleur, where Bazille was painting with Monet, circa 1864] is paradise. Nowhere could you find more lush fields with more beautiful trees. Cows and horses roam freely everywhere.”

Quote from Bazille's letter to his mother, c. 1864; as quoted in Frédéric Bazille and early Impressionism, Marandel, Daulte et al. p. 166
1861 - 1865

“It is really too ridiculous for a reasonably intelligent person to expose himself to this kind of administrative caprice.”

quote, c. 1869; in: Frédéric Bazille and early Impressionism, Marandel, Daulte et al. p. 179-180
Bazille meant the official yearly Paris Salon which excluded and refused many artists of the circle of the Impressionists; in 1869 an attempt to reinstate the Salon des Refusés was in progress; and even the older painters like Daubigny, Corot, Courbet, Diaz promised their support and to contribute their art in the alternative Salon
1866 - 1870

“I've extended my hospitality to one of my friends, a former student of Gleyre's, who lacks a studio at the moment. Renoir, that's his name, is a real worker, he takes advantage of my models and helps me pay for them.”

In a letter to his parents, c. 1868; as quoted in Frédéric Bazille, Prophet of Impressionism (exhibition catalogue), Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn & Dixon Gallery, Memphis, 1992-93, p. 38
Renoir would move in with Bazille around 1868, and Bazille's letter is only one example of his charitable nature
1866 - 1870

“The big classical compositions are finished; an ordinary view of daily life would be much more interesting.”

Quote by Jean Renoir, in: Renoir my father, p. 96; as quoted in The private lives of the Impressionists, Sue Roe, Harpen Collins Publishers, New York 2006, p. 24

a remark of Bazille, in the winter of 1862 – 63 during a walk with Renoir

the two painters passed a crying baby while its nurse was flirting with a soldier
1861 - 1865

“Don't worry! I bring to it all the necessary objectivity, don't be alarmed.... dirty machinists, very dumb musicians, a very old [choreographer] Monsieur Auber, and everyone only thinks about getting her job done as quickly as possible to earn a living.”

about a 'backstage-scene' of the Paris Opera, from his letter to Bazille's mother c. 1866; as cited in The private lives of the Impressionists, Sue Roe, Harpen Collins Publishers, New York 2006, p. 49
1866 - 1870

“I have almost finished a large landscape”

painting ' Landscape by the Lez River
[around Montpellier https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frederic_Bazille_Paysage_au_bord_du_Lez.jpg.. ..I am completely alone on the country; my cousins and my brother are at the resort. My father and mother are living in town; this solitude pleases me enormously; it makes me work a lot and read a lot.
In a letter to fr:Edmond Maitre, 2 August 1870; as quoted in Impressionnism, Gary Tinterow, Henri Loyrette; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1994, p. 338
this work is Bazille's last painting and largest known landscape; he started it c. June 1870 and finished it 2 August, just before he left 16 August 1870, to join the third regiment of Zouaves; he died soon
1866 - 1870

Similar authors

Eugène Delacroix photo
Eugène Delacroix 50
French painter
Paul Cézanne photo
Paul Cézanne 62
French painter
Claude Monet photo
Claude Monet 87
French impressionist painter
Paul Gauguin photo
Paul Gauguin 41
French Post-Impressionist artist
Mikhail Lermontov photo
Mikhail Lermontov 34
Russian writer, poet and painter
Anatole France photo
Anatole France 122
French writer
Sarah Bernhardt photo
Sarah Bernhardt 11
French actress
Alfred de Musset photo
Alfred de Musset 4
French writer
Claude Debussy photo
Claude Debussy 34
French composer