“But, after all, the only principle in Art is to copy what you see. Dealers in æsthetics to the contrary, every other method is fatal. There is no recipe for improving nature.
“The only thing is to see.
“Oh, doubtless a mediocre man copying nature will never produce a work of art; because he really looks without seeing, and though he may have noted each detail minutely, the result will be flat and without character. But the profession of artist is not meant for the mediocre, and to them the best counsels will never succeed in giving talent.
“The artist, on the contrary, sees; that is to say, that his eye, grafted on his heart, reads deeply into the bosom of Nature.
“That is why the artist has only to trust to his eyes.”
Study
By Rodin
Photograph reproduced by permission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Study
By Rodin
Photograph reproduced by permission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art