The trick is to paint a picture that doesn't exist, and yet that fits perfectly into an artist's body of work.

No one ever ordered anything from me. I painted because I wanted to.

I wouldn't be ashamed to sell my own art for a lot of money.

For the cynic, art is defined through money. That, of course, is a very sad statement. But an artist is someone who does creative things.

Fame never interested me. I could have exhibited more of my own works in the 1970s, but I didn't want to. It's sort of like being a child. When you're finished with school, you have only one thing on your mind: to get out and experience life. Did I want to spend all my time working on a painting? No, I wanted to have fun, travel, meet women and live life.

I only painted when I felt like it and needed money. But it never really became a professional thing, even though the dealers would have liked that.

I once went to a demonstration in Aachen against fare increases on public transport. A police officer pulled out a bunch of my hair, and there were a lot of violent beatings. That's when I thought to myself: You'd better leave it alone.