Complex sentence: These mysterious and eccentric juxtapositions seemed to imply poetic associations although Murch himself tended to dismiss this sort of interpretation of his work, saying of the objects he chose to paint that they were simply an excuse to paint.
Split into simpler sentences: These mysterious and eccentric juxtapositions seemed to imply poetic associations although Murch himself tended to dismiss this sort of interpretation of his work. He often said of the objects he chose to paint that they were simply an excuse to paint.