LISA YUSKAVAGE

The ’80s came to me when Schnabel visited Yale in ’85. He was at the height of his career, and he arrived with this long fur coat and a blond assistant to throw it to. He wore expensive clothing, a silk shirt and golden suspenders made of coins, and he walked up to all the boys, like Richard Phillips, and said, “You want a kiss?” He had a pocketful of Hershey Kisses and gave them to everybody. Then he told us to each get one painting and hang it up; and he talked for four hours. He was brilliant, more diligent and generous as a critic than almost anyone I’d ever spoken to. Only a real painter talks about painting the way Schnabel did.

—As told to Tim Griffin