Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward the future, toward eternity.

Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward the future, toward eternity.

Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning.

Art distills sensations and embodies it with enhanced meaning.

So-called art restoration is at least as tricky as brain surgery. Most pictures expire under scalpel and sponge.

So-called art restoration is at least as tricky as brain surgery. Most pictures expire under scalpel and sponge.

I have been no more than a medium, as it were.

I have been no more than a medium, as it were.

Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.

Writing is like walking in a deserted street. Out of the dust in the street you make a mud pie.

Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.

Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation.

Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of read more

Twentieth-century art may start with nothing, but it flourishes by virtue of its belief in itself, in the possibility of control over what seems essentially uncontrollable, in the coherence of the inchoate, and in its ability to create its own values.

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs read more

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check.

I think that one of the qualifications of artists should be a vow of celibacy. They should be confined to read more

I think that one of the qualifications of artists should be a vow of celibacy. They should be confined to ruining only their own lives.