The Dutch painter Martinus Kuytenbrouwer acknowledges the flaws in his work

"In your charming review of the Salon, you treated my painting with a kindness for which I cannot thank you enough. You grasped, with the tact of a true connoisseur, one of the major flaws in my work, namely the poverty of the composition: several eminent artists had pointed out the same drawback to me, which I now fully acknowledge, and which you have indicated with such indulgent precision. Happy is the artist when he encounters a forgiving and intelligent critic who, highlighting minor qualities as great merits, knows how to discreetly show the painter his major flaws as imperceptible blemishes. Thank you a thousand times, sir, for your kind words; I will be eternally grateful.".