I have always held this view, but was never able to articulate it quite so eloquently:

As Nietzsche knew, painters do not merely reproduce [reality]. They select and highlight, and they are accorded genuine admiration in so far as their version of reality seems to bring out valuable features of it.

Of course this applies not only to painters, but all forms of art. Art is not merely an imitation of nature, but an expression of the artist, of his or her interpretation of this world.

This is my favorite chapter in this book. I am going to Provence some day to see for myself.