Conversation with Francis Bacon

Olho d'água do rio Nabão — Ansião

— When do you work?

— In the morning, with the light. In the afternoon I go to bars or gambling halls. Sometimes I see friends. In order to work I must be absolutely alone. No one else can be in the house. My instinct cannot work with other people present — and it's worse when they're people you love. It can work only in freedom.

Marguerite Duras, Outside (Beacon Press, 1986)