CCI To Rousseau
The day after I left you I went to see your exhibition.... To-day I assure you that in spite of knowing your studies of Auvergne and those earlier ones, I was struck once more in seeing them all together by the fact that a force is a force from its first beginnings.
With the very earliest you show a freshness of vision which leaves no doubt as to the pleasure you took in seeing nature, and one sees that she spoke directly to you, and that you saw her through your own eyes.
Your work is your own et non de l’aultruy, as Montaigne says. Don’t think I mean to go through everything of yours bit by bit, down to the present moment. I only wish to mention the starting point, which is the important thing, because it shows that a man is born to his calling.
From the beginning you were the little oak which will grow into a big oak. There! I must tell you once more how much it moved me to see all this.
Millet.