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

The painting is always done very much with [the model's] co-operation. The problem with painting a nude, of course, is that it deepens the transaction. You can scrap a painting of someone's face and it imperils the sitter's self-esteem less than scrapping a painting of the whole naked body.

The paintings live because their creator has been passionately attentive to their theme, and his attention has left something for us to look at. It seems a sort of miracle.

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

The model should only serve the very private function for the painter of providing the starting point for his excitement

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

The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work.