Now there is fame! Of all - hunger, misery, the incomprehension by the public - fame is by far the worst. It is the castigation of God by the artist. It is sad. It is true.

When I paint I feel that all the artists of the past are behind me.

The quality of a painter depends on the amount of past he carries with him.

You're either a goddess ... or a doormat.

The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.

I'd like to live like a poor man with a lot of money.

Basically the French are all peasants.