Rather than just a depiction of nature, I searched for something like soul. I was occupied with painting children, studying them was more rewarding to me than studying adults at that time. I also wanted to give more to the children.

As quoted in Bowron, Aurisch, Supan, Künste (2000). Romantics, realists, revolutionaries: masterpieces of 19th-century German painting from the Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig. Prestel. p. 158