You are absolutely right my friend :-) ... but I would dare to say that he had a certain distance to life that is also necessary. He rarely falls into the trap of sentimentalism, rather you could say he uses people to bring life, but life as and artistic expression, not as "friend". His portraits are a good illustration. He does not care to portray people in the usually thought way, but rather as a tool for showing his own expression of his feeling towards them. He has also said ... "I love people and I hate people" :-)