Gustave Moreau’s famous quote
The first phrase is the one you read everywhere, and it sums up Symbolism better than any textbook. Moreau does not paint what he sees: he paints Salome, Jupiter, Chimeras—figures no one has ever encountered—and he paints them with the precision of a miniaturist. The paradox is intentional. What he feels is myth; what he sees are the train stations and boulevards of his contemporaries, and he does not believe in them. His biography is on the Who was Gustave Moreau? page.
The second phrase is more surprising for a painter often described as retrograde. Being modern, he says, is not about inventing the unseen but about redoing what has always been done “and what cannot be done otherwise.” This is the lesson he taught his students at the École des Beaux-Arts, including Matisse and Rouault. You can understand it on the ground floor of the museum, in front of his own copies after the Italian masters, as I explain on the Gustave Moreau’s students page.
Neither of these phrases is displayed anywhere in the museum. Carry them in your mind, and reread the first one on the third floor in front of Jupiter and Semele.
Beware of homonyms
Search engines mix everything up. The phrases about cinema, love, or age attributed to “Moreau” generally refer to Jeanne Moreau, the actress, who has no connection to the painter. The quotes about art and stupidity that circulate alongside are often by Flaubert. If the phrase speaks of believing in what one feels or in what “has always been done,” it is indeed the painter from rue Catherine-de-La-Rochefoucauld, the one whose works to see in his house I describe.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gustave Moreau’s most famous quote?
“I believe neither in what I touch nor in what I see. I believe only in what I do not see and solely in what I feel.” It sums up his position as a Symbolist painter, as described on the page Who was Gustave Moreau?.
Is “Being modern does not consist in seeking…” by Gustave Moreau?
Yes. It is his definition of modernity as the repetition of what has always been done “and cannot be done otherwise,” the lesson he taught his students, including Matisse.
Are Jeanne Moreau’s quotes those of the painter?
No. Jeanne Moreau was an actress with no connection to Gustave Moreau. Quotes about art attributed to “Moreau” concerning stupidity or style are often by Flaubert. To see the real Moreau, the museum’s complete guide is a good starting point.