The product of movement and counter-movement is tension. When tension — working strength — is expressed, it endows the work of art with the living ef… - Hans Hofmann

Then [speaking of his loosely figurative work of the 1930's, in Germany] I was still under nature, not that I was imitating it; now I am above nature. But everything comes from nature, I too am part of nature; my memory comes from nature, too.

Painting is aesthetic enjoyment; I want to be a 'poet'. As an artist I must conform to my nature. My nature has a lyrical as well as a dramatic disposition. Not one day is the same. One day I feel wonderful to work and I feel an expression, which shows in the work. Only with a very clear mind on a clear day I can paint without interruptions and without food because my disposition is like that. My work should reflect my moods and the greatest enjoyment I had when I did the work...

The art of pictorial creation is so complicated — it is so astronomical in its possibilities of relation and combination that it would take an act of super-human concentration to explain the final realization.