I went for a walk in the fields towards Chiosso. The air is crisp, there is some wind, the meadows are bathed in golden autumn sunshine, the peaks white with fresh snow, big white spring clouds in a clear blue sky. It seems to me that in my life I must represent reality with all its beauty of colour, construction and solidity. Simplicity. (…) Is it better to be sincere, that is, to simply be oneself, even with a common or mediocre temperament, or to try not to accept this temperament, to try to improve and correct it? Is it better to be sincere and humble or strong and deceptive? (…) A painting, a work of art must come from one’s brain, one’s head: one must invent, create, by studying nature, scrutinising, meditating, analysing one’s feelings and impressions.

Carlo Fornara, Taccuini 1915-1918 (Notebooks 1915-1918) in Bello di colore, Scheiwiller 1969