Some Folks Think I Painted

Without Thinking Too Much About It In Specific Terms, I Was Showing The America I Knew And Observed To Others Who Might Not Have Noticed. My Fundamental Purpose Is To Interpret The Typical American. I Am A Story Teller.

The Story Is The First Thing And The Last Thing.

My Best Efforts Were Some Modern Things That Looked Like Very Lousy Matisses. Thank God I Had The Sense To Realize They Were Lousy, And Leave Paris.

The '20s Ended In An Era Of Extravagance, Sort Of Like The One We're In Now. There Was A Big Crash, But Then The Country Picked Itself Up Again, And We Had Some Great Years. Those Were The Days When American Believed In Itself. I Was Happy And Proud To Be Painting It.

The Balopticon [a Machine That Projects Photos On Canvas To Trace The Lines] Is An Evil, Inartistic, Habit-forming, Lazy And Vicious Machine! It Also Is A Useful, Time-saving, Practical And Helpful One. I Use One Often-and Am Thoroughly Ashamed Of It. I Hide It Whenever I Hear People Coming.