An artist must be nourished by his passions and his despairs. These things alter an artist whether for the good or the better or the worse. It must alter him.

Francis Bacon (28 October 1909 – 28 April 1992) was an Anglo-Irish figurative painter, a collateral descendant of the Elizabethan philosopher Francis Bacon. His artwork is well-known for its bold, austere, and often grotesque or nightmarish imagery

Quotes

  • I feel ever so strongly that an artist must be nourished by his passions and his despairs. These things alter an artist whether for the good or the better or the worse. It must alter him. The feelings of desperation and unhappiness are more useful to an artist than the feeling of contentment, because desperation and unhappiness stretch your whole sensibility.
    • As quoted in The Artist Observed: 28 interviews with contemporary artists (1991) by John Gruen, p. 3
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