Max Beckmann

Art is creative for the sake of realization, not for amusement... for transfiguration, not for the sake of play.

What I want to show in my work is the idea which hides itself behind so-called reality.

Height, width, and depth are the three phenomena which I must transfer into one plane to form the abstract surface of the picture, and thus to protect myself from the infinity of space.

When I am writing, my problems become invisible and I am the same person I always was. All is well. I am as I should be.

It's a wonderful feeling to be a bridge to the past and to unite generations. The sport of baseball does that, and I am just a part of it.

Once a year my back will go out and it'll be... it's like a sciatic thing and it's the smallest thing. Like I could be leaning over the sink to brush my teeth in a weird way and it happens.