When I Look At A Body It

The Character Of The Artist Doesn't Enter Into The Nature Of The Art. Eliot Said That Art Is The Escape From Personality, Which I Think Is Right. We Know That Velázquez Embezzled Money From The Spanish Court And Wanted Power And So On, But You Can't See This In His Art.

As Far As I Am Concerned The Paint Is The Person. I Want It To Work For Me Just As Flesh Does

Full, Saturated Colours Have An Emotional Significance I Want To Avoid.

The Aura Given Out By A Person Or Object Is As Much A Part Of Them As Their Flesh. The Effect That They Make In Space Is As Bound Up With Them As Might Be Their Colour Or Smell ... Therefore The Painter Must Be As Concerned With The Air Surrounding His Subject As With The Subject Itself. It Is Through Observation And Perception Of Atmosphere That He Can Register The Feeling That He Wishes His Painting To Give Out.

The Painting Is Always Done Very Much With [the Model's] Co-operation. The Problem With Painting A Nude, Of Course, Is That It Deepens The Transaction. You Can Scrap A Painting Of Someone's Face And It Imperils The Sitter's Self-esteem Less Than Scrapping A Painting Of The Whole Naked Body.