The story is the first thing and the last thing.

Everyone in those days expected that art students were wild, licentious characters. We didn't know how to be, but we sure were anxious to learn.

I keep the pornographic stuff in a bus station locker.

I work from fatigue to fatigue at my age there's only so much daylight left.

Right from the beginning, I always strived to capture everything I saw as completely as possible.

Without thinking too much about it in specific terms, I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed. My fundamental purpose is to interpret the typical American. I am a story teller.

The '20s ended in an era of extravagance, sort of like the one we're in now. There was a big crash, but then the country picked itself up again, and we had some great years. Those were the days when American believed in itself. I was happy and proud to be painting it.