Painting is a jeu d'esprit.

No, painting is not interior decoration. It is an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy.

It is my misfortune - and probably my delight - to use things as my passions tell me. What a miserable fate for a painter who adores blondes to have to stop himself putting them into a picture because they don't go with the basket of fruit! . . . I put all the things I like into my pictures. The things - so much the worse for them. They just have to put up with it.

You cannot go against nature. She is stronger than the strongest of men. We can permit ourselves some liberties, but in details only.

I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.

Action is the fundamental key to success.

Painting is a blind man's profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels, what he tells himself about what he has seen.