I believe an artist is the last person in the world who can afford to be affected.

I have a single track mind. I work on an idea for a long time. It's like getting acquainted with a person, and I don't get acquainted easily.

I realized that were I to paint flowers small, no one would look at them because I was unknown. So I thought I'll make them big, like the huge buildings going up. People will be startled; they'll have to look at them - and they did.

I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.

One can't paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt.

I know now that most people are so closely concerned with themselves that they are not aware of their own individuality, I can see myself, and it has helped me to say what I want to say in paint.

I want real things ... music that makes holes in the sky.