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'.

Painting what I experience, translating what I feel, is a great liberation. But it is also work, self-examination, consciousness, criticism, struggle.

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

I had only planned to strike the gong violently in order to somehow shake people up and make them more aware. I think I succeeded.

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'.

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

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