A work should contain its total meaning within itself and should impress it on the spectator before he even knows the subject.
I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some kind of a Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
I would like to recapture that freshness of vision which is characteristic of extreme youth when all the world is new to it.
What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter - a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair which provides relaxation from physical fatigue.
It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.
Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better.
I don't know whether I believe in God or not. I think, really, I'm some sort of Buddhist. But the essential thing is to put oneself in a frame of mind which is close to that of prayer.
Cutting into color reminds me of the sculptor's direct carving.
A young woman has young claws, well sharpened. If she has character, that is. And if she hasn't so much the worse for you.
Work cures everything.
My curves are not crazy.
Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us.
It is only after years of preparation that the young artist should touch color - not color used descriptively, that is, but as a means of personal expression.
You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover.
An artist must possess Nature. He must identify himself with her rhythm, by efforts that will prepare the mastery which will later enable him to express himself in his own language.
Time extracts various values from a painter's work. When these values are exhausted the pictures are forgotten, and the more a picture has to give, the greater it is.
Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
He who loves, flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back.
A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I've been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.
I wouldn't mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.
