My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, read more

My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.

Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.

Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.

Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail.

Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail.

For half a century photography has been the "art form" of the untalented. Obviously some pictures are more satisfactory than read more

For half a century photography has been the "art form" of the untalented. Obviously some pictures are more satisfactory than others, but where is credit due? to the designer of the camera? To the finger on the button? tso the law of averages?

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from read more

The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one's obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.

Art is an absolute mistress; she will not be coquetted with or slighted; she requires the most entire self-devotion, and read more

Art is an absolute mistress; she will not be coquetted with or slighted; she requires the most entire self-devotion, and she repays with grand triumphs.

As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make read more

As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting -- the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. The humanities would be called upon to choose a wallpaper for the crypt, as the end drew near.

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.

About the most originality that any writer can hope to achieve honestly is to steal with good judgment.