There was an incident, in 1912, which 'gave me a turn,' so to speak: when I brought the 'Nude Descending a Staircase' to the Independants, and they asked me to withdraw it before the opening.
Alchemy is a kind of philosophy: a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding.
Words such as truth, art, veracity, or anything are stupid in themselves.
Everything important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase.
My position is the lack of a position, but, of course, you can't even talk about it; the minute you talk, you spoil the whole game.
Since Courbet, it's been believed that painting is addressed to the retina. That was everyone's error. The retinal shudder! Before, painting had other functions: it could be religious, philosophical, moral... our whole century is completely retinal, except for the Surrealists, who tried to go outside it somewhat.
