Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye... it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.

Without fear and illness, I could never have accomplished all I have

I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.

I do not believe in the art which is not the compulsive result of man's urge to open his heart

By painting colors and lines and forms seen in quickened mood I was seeking to make this mood vibrate as a phonograph does. This was the origin of the paintings in The Frieze of Life.

If what you want to paint is the emotive mood in all its strength... then you must not sit and stare at everything and depict it exactly as one sees it.

I have no fear of photography as long as it cannot be used in heaven and in hell.