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We should try to return to our youth, to work naively; this is what I see, and it is why I have such success, because our century has tried to return to the primitive. I work as if no art had ever been made, before me, as if I had never learned anything. I am the first man to do sculpture.

— Aristide Maillol Conversations with Judith Cladel (1939)

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More quotes by Aristide Maillol

My sculpture is altogether different from Rodin’s.. ..In sculpture he [Rodin] always sees the flesh first. [answering his critics]

A [figure] interests me when I can bring architecture out of it.

He [ Renoir; Maillol made his bust] was very interested, watching me do his bust. He said to me: 'Every time you touch it, it becomes more alive.'

I seek beauty, not character. For me portraiture and statuary are completely opposed to each other.

Mademoiselle, I am told that you look like a Renoir and Maillol [as a model]. I would be happy with a Renoir.

his letter (1939)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Aristide Maillol (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.