90% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
What turned up
Art, by Auguste Rodin (interviews recorded by Paul Gsell, 1911; trans. Romilly Fedden, 1912), ch. VII — Rodin names it his favorite maxim.
Work
Art (interviews with Paul Gsell, trans. Romilly Fedden, 1912)
Occasion
1911 · Paris, France · answering whether sculpting a dull, expressionless face was one of a sculptor's trials — to him no face was dull
Sources checked
gutenberg.orgChecked using claude-fable-5, 22 August 2026Full text fetched and grepped this pass; ch. VII: 'You must not forget my favorite maxim: Nature is always beautiful. We need only to understand what she shows us.' Stored text drops the introductory frame; both sentences are Rodin's continuous speech. Fedden translation, 1912, public domain.