What do I ask of a painting? I ask it to astonish, disturb, seduce, convince.

A painter must think of everything he sees as being there entirely for his own use and pleasure.

As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does

The aura given out by a person or object is as much a part of them as their flesh.

I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it's what Yeats called the fascination with what's difficult. I'm only trying to do what I can't do.

I want paint to work as flesh... my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them ... As far as I am concerned the paint is the person. I want it to work for me just as flesh does.

The character of the artist doesn't enter into the nature of the art