"These palm trees [in Bordighera, Italy] are driving me crazy; and also the motifs are extremely difficult to render, to put down on canvas; everywhere is so lush."

"I'm working like a madman, but I'm not making progress."

"I want to paint the light, and I want to paint the air."

"I want the unobtainable. Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat… I want to paint the air that surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat – the beauty of the air in which these objects are locate…"

"How I dream of Giverny in this lovely weather and envy you for being there, you have no idea. But I am a prisoner and must see it through, despite being completely drained. It's exhausting and I'm wor…"