Richard Estes (b. 1932)

"In many ways, Estes' New York is an ideal city: always fall or always spring, no slush or grime. And everything is in miraculous, preternatural focus. 'There are certain things that have to be fuzzy that are naturally fuzzy,' he explained to me when we were talking about his paintings. 'The eye sees like that. When I look at things, some are out of focus. But I don't like to have some things out of focus and others in focus because it makes very specific what you are supposed to look at, and I try to avoid saying that. I want you to look at all. Everything is in focus." (J. Perreault, "Richard Estes," Richard Estes: The Complete Paintings 1966-1985, New York, 1986, pp. 10-11)