"When I am tired of long, straight roof lines, why should I not introduce a cupola, especially where the cloud formation requires its support?. .Why should I not build my own towns to suit myself?"

“When I'm sitting in front of my easel again.. .I'm going to make things that no one would have expected of me.”

“A painting is finished when one can see what it represents.”

“Thijs knew everything by himself, he was a genius.”

“Damned! Another 'town under white clouds'..”

“On the other hand, I am accused of not finishing my paintings, no matter how much time I spent to my airs. Well, 'finished' in the common sense of the word, they are certainly not! Finishing in that sense would drag the life out of it.”

“Almost all new French art has for me a flat, empty character without any distance and depth in colors. The paintings look like white sheets of paper with colors on it.”