More Important Than A Work Of Art

I Begin My Pictures Under The Effect Of A Shock Which I Feel And Which Makes Me Escape From Reality... I Need A Point Of Departure, Even If It's Only A Speck Of Dust Or A Flash Of Light.

The More Ignoble I Find Life, The More Strongly I React By Contradiction, In Humour And In An Outburst Of Liberty And Expansion.

Painting Or Poetry Is Made As One Makes Love - A Total Embrace, Prudence Thrown To The Winds, Nothing Held Back.

I Think Of My Studio As A Vegetable Garden, Where Things Follow Their Natural Course. They Grow, They Ripen. You Have To Graft. You Have To Water.

Art Class Was Like A Religious Ceremony To Me. I Would Wash My Hands Carefully Before Touching Paper Or Pencils. The Instruments Of Work Were Sacred Objects To Me.