El artista es hijo de sus tiempos, pero desdichado de él si, a la vez, es su alumno o incluso su favorito.

Der Künstler ist meist ein Kind seiner Zeit, besonders, wenn seine eigene Entwicklungsperiode in die Zeit des frühen Sozialismus fällt. Meine Entwicklungszeit fiel in die Zeit des frühen Sozialismus. Dieser ergriff mich gänzlich. Von einer bewußten Arbeit im Dienste des Proletariats war damals für mich keine Rede. Was kümmerten mich aber Schönheitsgesetze, wie zum Beispiel die der Griechen, die nicht meine eigenen waren, von mir empfunden und nachgefühlt? Das Proletariat war für mich eben Schön.

A great artist is always before his time or behind it.

The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the works of others as his standard.

A little artist has all the tragic unhappiness and the sorrows of a great artist and he is not a great artist.

At the age of ten, twenty, a hundred, very young, a little older, and very old, an artist is always an artist. Isn't he better at some times, some moments, than at others? Never impeccable, since he is a living, human being?

Great artists are products of their own time: they do not spring forth fully equipped from the head of Jove, but are formed by the circumstances acting upon them since birth. These circumstances include the ambiance created by the other, lesser artists of their own time, who have all done their part in creating the pressure that forces up an exceptional talent. Unjustly, but unavoidably, the very closeness of a great artist to his colleagues and contemporaries leads to their eclipse.

You can't help it. An artist's duty, as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.

It is an artist's duty to reflect the times.

An artist will betray himself by some sort of sincerity.

So I don't think you have a choice, how can you be an artist and not reflect the times. That to me is the definition of an artist.

The great artists throughout history are the ones able to maintain this childlike enthusiasm and exuberance naturally. Just as an infant is selfish, they’re protective of their art in a way that’s not always cooperative. Their needs as a creator come first. Often at the expense of their personal lives and relationships.

But how is the artist to protect himself against the corruption of the age which besets him on all sides?

The worst evil which can befall the artist is that his work should appear good in his own eyes.