Francis Bacon (1909-1992) - Self Portrait, 1971
"The moment you know what to do you're just making another sort of illustration."
"An illustrational form tells you through the intelligence immediately what the form is about, whereas a non-illustrational form works first upon sensation and then leaks back into the fact."
"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."
"There is an area of the nervous system to which the texture of paint communicates more violently than anything else."
"When I am painting I am ageless. I just have the difficulty or pleasure of painting."
"Before I start painting I have a slightly ambiguous feeling: happiness is a special excitement because unhappiness is always possible a moment later."
"You could say that I have no inspiration, that I only need paint."
"My painting is not violent; it's life that is violent."
"The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It's not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it's a little like making love, the physical act of love."
"It (painting) can be as violent as fucking, like an orgasm or ejaculation. The result is often disappointing, but the process is highly exciting."
"The moment you know what to do you're just making another sort of illustration."
"An illustrational form tells you through the intelligence immediately what the form is about, whereas a non-illustrational form works first upon sensation and then leaks back into the fact."
"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."
"There is an area of the nervous system to which the texture of paint communicates more violently than anything else."
"When I am painting I am ageless. I just have the difficulty or pleasure of painting."
"Before I start painting I have a slightly ambiguous feeling: happiness is a special excitement because unhappiness is always possible a moment later."
"You could say that I have no inspiration, that I only need paint."
"My painting is not violent; it's life that is violent."
"The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It's not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it's a little like making love, the physical act of love."
"It (painting) can be as violent as fucking, like an orgasm or ejaculation. The result is often disappointing, but the process is highly exciting."
Francis Bacon
