The buttocks are the most aesthetically pleasing part of the body because they are non-functional. Although they conceal an essential read more

The buttocks are the most aesthetically pleasing part of the body because they are non-functional. Although they conceal an essential orifice, these pointless globes are as near as the human form can ever come to abstract art.

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt read more

I remember being handed a score composed by Mozart at the age of eleven. What could I say? I felt like de Kooning, who was asked to comment on a certain abstract painting, and answered in the negative. He was then told it was the work of a celebrated monkey. 'That's different. For a monkey, it's terrific.' - "London Magazine", March, 1967.

All autobiography is self-indulgent.

All autobiography is self-indulgent.

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.

Art for art's sake is a philosophy of the well-fed.

Art for art's sake is a philosophy of the well-fed.

I don't want to see pictures of Hollywood stars in their dressing gowns taking out the rubbish. It ruins the read more

I don't want to see pictures of Hollywood stars in their dressing gowns taking out the rubbish. It ruins the fantasy.

Art need no longer be an account of past sensations. It can become the direct organization of more highly evolved read more

Art need no longer be an account of past sensations. It can become the direct organization of more highly evolved sensations. It is a question of producing ourselves, not things that enslave us.

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.

For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh.

For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh.