Painting is like making love. You cannot ask, 'How do you do it?' But, hopefully, it is beautiful. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
I first think of intelligence. You need it for surviving in Italy because Italy is so pompous. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
When you sit for an hour and a half in front of somebody, he or she shows about twenty faces. And so it's this… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
Maybe poets express more directly a sense of sympathy for other human beings. Painting is a little bit more of a retreat from human… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
When I look at a drawing of a person, I look at that person as living. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
There's poetry in the world. Poetry doesn't belong just to the poets. You know, you can look at the most premeditated, cold blooded movie… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
A photograph to me is always a reminder of how the person was on a certain day in that certain light fixed. When I… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
That moment when the person actually dictates the way I do the portrait is when the intimacy arrives. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
It is very scary to think mechanically about someone you know. That means that the second time you meet a person is useless. Which… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
We are not naturally intelligent, or happy. In fact, every day it is harder to remain intelligent. It seems often that people get intelligent… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
Fashion is the pursuit of perfection, Style is the acceptance of one's flaws. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
My portraits are half what I see and the other half is invented or dictated by the person and the painting. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
In India and in New York the economy is naked. People are starving physically in India, and emotionally in New York. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
In my head I am in one of those Buddhist caves where you see a thousand Buddha faces on the wall. In my head… — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
I never paint a portrait from a photograph, because a photograph doesn't give enough information about what the person feels. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
I repeatedly refuse to make any practical decisions. I get a feeling of nausea about practicality. — Francesco Clemente Copy Share Image
