I always feel the desire to look for the extraordinary in ordinary things; to suggest, not to impose, to leave always a slight touch of mystery in my paintings.

If you speak of beauty, you are at once suspected of...kitsch.

I will always find even the worst paintings that attempt some kind of representation better than the best invented paintings.

Painting is a source of endless pleasure, but also of great anguish.

I refuse to confide and don't like it when people write about art.

Painting is a language which cannot be replaced by another language. I don't know what to say about what I paint, really.

The best way to begin is to say: 'Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known. And now let us have a look at the paintings'.