A painter is a man who paints what he sells; an artist, on the other hand, is a man who sells what he paints.

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.

If you are trying to find something, it means you haven't got it. And if you find it simply by looking for it, that means it's false.

I understand my own pictures best six months after I have done them.

Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.

Whether he wants it or not, man is the instrument of nature; she imposes on him character and appearance.

Everyone wants to understand art. Why not try to understand the song of a bird? ...people who try to explain pictures are usually barking up the wrong tree.