Benjamin Haydon — British Artist born on January 26, 1786, died on June 22, 1846

Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter who specialised in grand historical pictures, although he also painted a few contemporary subjects and portraits. His commercial success was damaged by his often tactless dealings with patrons, and by the enormous scale on which he preferred to work. He was troubled by financial problems throughout his life, which led to several periods of imprisonment for debt. He committed suicide in 1846... (wikipedia)

Art is a reality, not a definition; inasmuch as it approaches a reality, it approaches perfection, and inasmuch as it approaches a mere definition, it is imperfect and untrue.
There surely is in human nature an inherent propensity to extract all the good out of all the evil.
Fortunately for serious minds, a bias recognized is a bias sterilized.
When a man is no longer anxious to do better than well, he is done for.
Genius is nothing more than common faculties refined to a greater intensity. There are no astonishing ways of doing astonishing things. All astonishing things are done by ordinary materials.