I shall do other things, but I will always be the painter of beaches. — Eugène Boudin

"They [the holiday-visitors near Le Havre] love my little ladies [paintings] on the beach, and some people say that theres a thread of gold to exploit there."

"I think I will go back to mahogany [wood, as layer for his paintings], the only stable wood, together with old oak. But mahogany is so heavy. And it has another drawback, it blackens even through the primers if they are not thick enough and applied in several coats."

"Imagine an immense plain.. ..in the middle, a small Gothic chapel surrounded by trees.. ..around that a hundred tents made of white canvas.. ..in open-air kitchens huge pots of boiling soup, incredible ragouts.."

"I exhaust myself terribly to content the world, and never manage to content myself."

"I dare not think of the sun-drenched beaches and the stormy skies, and of the joy of painting them in the sea breezes."

"You know the affection I have always had for you and also the gratitude. I have never forgotten that you were the first who taught me to see and to comprehend."