"It has always seemed to me strange that the artist who created these figures, which leap and dance around him, was himself a morose and misanthropic character. He withdrew entirely into his own world of color; his imagination became cheeful and merry as soon as he picked up a brush. I have often felt deeply grateful to him for his romances, his dance tunes, his delightful drinkings songs; often, after looking at his paintings, I have felt that the movement of life around me was sweeter."