I'm a joker who has understood his epoch and has extracted all he possibly could from the stupidity, greed and vanity of his contemporaries.

That inspiration comes, does not depend on me. The only thing I can do is make sure it catches me working.

When I was a kid I drew like Michelangelo. It took me years to learn to draw like a kid.

Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.

Every now and then one paints a picture that seems to have opened a door and serves as a stepping stone to other things.

You know, it's just like being a peddler. You want two breasts? Well, here you are -- two breasts. We must see to it that the man looking at the picture has at hand everything he needs to paint a nude. If you really give him everything he needs -- and the best -- he'll put everything where it belongs, with his own eyes. Each person will make for himself the kind of nude he wants, with the nude that I will have made for him.

When I die, it will be a shipwreck, and as when a huge ship sinks, many people all around will be sucked down with it.