Paul Signac: "The art of the colorist has in some ways elements of mathematics and music"

• "Art is a creation of a higher order than a copy of nature which is governed by chance..."

• "The art of the colorist has in some ways elements of mathematics and music".

• "Divisionism is a complex system of harmony, an aesthetic rather than a technique".

• "The golden age has not passed; it lies in the future".

• "The anarchist painter is not the one who will create anarchist pictures, but the one who will fight with all his individuality against official conventions".

• "The Neo-Impressionist does not stipple, he divides. And dividing involves... guaranteeing all benefits of light".

• "The Pointillist chooses a means of expression by which he applies colour on a canvas in small dots rather than spreading it flat".

• "Frankly, this is my position: I have been painting for two years, and my only models have been your [Monet's] own works; I have been following the wonderful path you broke for us.

I have always worked regularly and conscientiously, but without advice or help, for I do not know any impressionist painter who would be able to guide me, living as I am in an environment more or less hostile to what I am doing.

And so I fear I may lose my way, and I beg you to let me see you, if only for a short visit.

I should be happy to show you five or six studies; perhaps you would tell me what you think of them and give me the advice I need so badly, for the fact is that I have the most horrible doubts, having always worked by myself, without teacher, encouragement, or criticism".

In a letter to Claude Monet, 1880; quoted by Geffroy: Claude Monet, vol. I, p. 175; as quoted by John Rewald, in Georges Seurat', a monograph; Wittenborn and Compagny, New York, 1943. p. 15