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Art

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“How to create works of art when nothing connects people to the world? If the artist remains fixed from himself to himself, without any distance in which a relationship to the world and to the other can be inscribed, his work will remain sterile as in the Greek myth of Hesiod's genesis, and is in no way different from any other object.”
Ksenia Milicevic (born 1942) first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ksenia Milicevic, Art-confusion.com, De l'image d'art à l'oeuvre d'art, Edilivre, Parise, 2013, p. 45.
“Museums, theatres, and concert halls are all around us, but what use are they unless you can get the child into the way of having sympathy for the art and the artist, of seeing and hearing the thing itself and talking about it?”
Florence Holbrook (1860–1932) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quoted in Grace R. Clark, "Florence Holbrook", the Journal of Education 101(22)(May 28, 1925): 616.
“Art provides a canvas for the artist to convey things which she might not be able to express verbally, putting distance between herself, the subject matter, and the person experiencing it — the viewer or spectator.”
Ivy Pochoda (born 1977) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview in Los Angeles Review of Books (2020), edited by Rachel Barenbaum.
“The work succeeded in justifying the fame of the great artist among the Paduans and universally seemed worthy of rivaling the most illustrious masterpieces of Greco-Roman art. The horse especially is of surprising beauty, full of vigor and pride; even the bronze casting was of extraordinary precision and beauty. (p. 45)”
Guido Carocci (1851–1916) said by 1916 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In my art, I wish to present myself through multiple lenses -- as artist, as Moroccan, as traditionalist, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite viewers to resist stereotypes.”
Lalla Essaydi (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An artist's creation is an extension of themselves, thus their artworks mirror their inner workings, desires and fears. When someone commits money to buy art, it is an indication, that they were moved by an aspect of the work.”
Modupeola Fadugba (born 1985) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My dream was to be an artist and to earn enough money to survive from my art … I realized that I would have to risk it at some point, or end up spending the rest of my life wondering whether I could make it”
Carrol Boyes (1954–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Like all worthwhile art, the piece invites us on a journey that has no path nor map, nor even an endpoint. Only a process, footsteps through the mind of an artist now forever lost to us.”
Jay Lake (1964–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Annihilation is, indeed, part of our being, but art is immortal. A sense of the tyranny of annihilation and the ephemeral quality of life always prompts the artist to create something more permanent then the self. (p188)”
Fadwa Tuqan (1917–2003) said by 2003 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was only after I won a primary school art competition that I saw my interest as something more than a hobby. This tiny win inspired me to see myself as an artist one day even though I had little understanding of what that meant. The professional part comes later as the vision becomes more tangible.”
Mbali Dlamini wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Podor in Senegal, the place where I grew up, everyone is an artist because art in Africa is not a commercial enterprise but is part of life itself.”
Tracey Rose (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My intention is to use my gifts and skill sets to empower and enlighten mankind through art. It is also to expand myself by getting out of my comfort zone as an artist. I join projects I believe will break the mould in some kind of way. Or those that excite me.”
Didintle Khunou (born 1992) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I could never be a Minimalist artist: I am interested in corrupting fine art with everything I wish for. I want adventure and to feel the same sense of command that I imagine an explorer or a scientist would––like a visitor trespassing”
Rina Banerjee (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today I got to where I am just my simply continuing to make art. Making friends within the artist community will always get you places as you all learn and grow your craft together.”
Hayley Barker (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact that I was like, ‘Should I not have worn that?’…. No, I do what I want to do, and I make what I want to make, and if I start being afraid of what other people are going to say or think, I’m no longer doing my job as an artist. I’m not experiencing the world and putting that into art. I’m walking on eggshells. Fuck that. So, I needed to take a minute”
Zoë Kravitz (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist sees art in everything.”
Menashe lustig (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In fact, for the ancient artist, the experience of beauty, the ecstacy on seeing nature or art which is truly beautiful has been considered as akin to Brahmanand or the final bliss.”
Benoy K. Behl (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art is a reflection of the artist's inner world and the society we live in.”
Wangechi Mutu (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art is a passion; a real artist loves his work so much that if he doesn't do it, he wouldn't do anything else.”
Josy Ajiboye wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I felt at the time, I was fighting too many battles. I was fighting for my rights as an African American in America; I was fighting for my right to make art as a woman artist; I was fighting to survive on a daily basis , I was fighting about my hair; and fighting to be a successful single parent.”
Dindga McCannon (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For me being an artist today is to shake up the rules of the art world”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having the skill to see it, think it, sketch it, make it, advise on it, has been really useful. Having the power to just create my art… All these things contribute to me being a musician and independent artist”
Moonchild Sanelly (born 1987) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve faced lots of challenges, ranging from the issue of not being recognized as a professional artist because I wasn’t formally trained in art down to my location”
Ken Nwadiogbu (born 1994) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, I think it can be art. But for my part, I just consider myself a creative person. I don't see myself as an artist. That said, yes, I like football to be beautiful. For the fans, for those watching on TV who want to have a good time. I think football is a magnificent sport, and therefore it should be visually beautiful too.”
Michael Olise (born 2001) first seen 2026 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On football being art, June 2026
“Art is a private thing, the artist makes it for himself; a comprehensible work is the product of a journalist. We need works that are strong, straight, precise, and forever beyond understanding.”
Kenneth Tynan (misattributed) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Dada Manifesto 1918 (23 March 1918) by Tristan Tzara
“A work of art should express only that which elevates the soul and pleases it in a noble manner. The feeling of the artist should not overstep these limits; it is wrong to venture beyond.”
Bettina von Arnim (attributed) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Albert Jay Nock, Memoirs of a Superfluous Man (1943), p. 175.
“It cannot be emphasized too strongly that art, as such, does not "pay," to use an American expression – at least, not in the beginning – and that the art that has to pay its own way is apt to become vitiated and cheap.”
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Music in America", Harper's Monthly Magazine, February 1895.
“In my view, the composer, just as the poet, the sculptor or the painter, is in duty bound to serve Man, the people. He must beautify human life and defend it. He must be a citizen first and foremost, so that his art might consciously extol human life and lead man to a radiant future. Such is the immutable code of art as I see it.”
Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Page 136; from his "Music and Life" (1951).
“Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heaven to earth come down, Fix in us thy humble dwelling, All thy faithful mercies crown; Jesu, thou art all compassion, Pure unbounded love thou art, Visit us with thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.”
Charles Wesley (1707–1788) said by 1788 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hymn IX" of "Hymns for those that seek and those who have redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ", in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley Vol 4. (1868), edited by G Osborn, p. 219
“The art of seeing Nature, or in other words, the art of using Models, is in reality the great object, the point to which all our studies are directed.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) said by 1792 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No Art can be grafted with success on another art. For though they all profess the same origin, and to proceed from the same stock, yet each has its own peculiar modes both of imitating nature, and of deviating from it, each for the accomplishment of its own particular purpose. These deviations, more especially, will not bear transplantation to another soil.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) first seen 1786 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discourse no. 13, delivered on December 11, 1786; vol. 2, p. 134.
“The moral value of the Image in Art must consist in its power to arouse a conviction of Beauty.If a conviction of Beauty is aroused, all images of Passion and Action allied to it will become vitalized.Vitality in a work of Art thus becomes a communicable element in mind, and so fulfils its function of stimulating vitality in Life.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sex Synonym in Art", in Vision (May 1923), p. 22
“[N]o statement of a value in Art can have authority till the Art itself has forced that valuation on Life.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) first seen 1923 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Poetry in Australia (Sydney, 1923), Preface
“At its highest, where does one find man’s effort trend away from the struggle for existence?In Creative Art.Therefore, in Creative art one must find the direction of Life.A statement so intrinsically aristocratic must be repudiated by all common minds.That is understood.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Creative Effort (London, 1924), pp. 1–2
“The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.Lose something every day. Accept the fluster of lost door keys, the hour badly spent. The art of losing isn’t hard to master.”
Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: One Art". Also in The New Yorker (Apr. 26, 1976)
“We have successfully built up our national strength and prestige, accepting and adding to our civilization the art and science of the West. Now, I believe, the time has come for us to carry our art and culture to other countries.”
Kōki Hirota (1878–1948) first seen 1936 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To the Japanese Parliament on January 21, 1936. Quoted in "The Virginia quarterly review: A National Journal of Literature and Discussion" - Page 164 - by University of Virginia - 1936.
“Art imitates nature not in its effects as such, but in its causes, in its ‘manner,’ in its process, which are nothing but a participation in and a derivation of actual objects, of the Art of God himself.”
Paul Claudel (1868–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in "The man who got it right," The New York Review of Books, Volume 60, Number 13, August 15, 2013, p. 72
“Then I slowly realised that your greatest art is the art of survival. But at least have the humility to let others survive in their own way.”
Wole Soyinka (born 1934) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I smiled, remembering Art's line about doctors being illpolitical. He meant it the way you used words like illiterate. Art always said doctors not only held no political views, but also were incapable of them. "It's like the military," he had once said. "Political views are considered unprofessional.”
Michael Crichton (1942–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What art tries to do is domesticate whatever is around and press it into the service of man. Morality is basic to the nature of art.”
Chinua Achebe (1930–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Between Margaret's fine-edged art and Gladys's rough simplicity, where did the greater feminine solace lie? True art, after all, is simple.”
Angus Wilson (1913–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Movement is the translation of life and if art depicts life,movement should come into art,since we are only aware of life,because it moves.”
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Sophie Brzeska-Savage Messiah By H S (Jim) Ede Heinimann (1931)
“Science is not science. It's an art, like... art, in a way.”
John Hodgman (born 1971) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: October 18, 2007
“Everything's sliding apart. Yet, "Long live everything!" For the art of creation Is older than the art of killing.”
Andrey Voznesensky (1933–2010) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lines to Robert Lowell"; translation by Louis Simpson and Vera Dunham, from Vera Dunham and Max Hayward (eds.) Nostalgia for the Present (New York: Doubleday, 1978) p. 111.
“If the advancement of the general art of programming requires the continuing invention and elaboration of paradigms, advancement of the art of the individual programmer requires that he expand his repertory of paradigms.”
Robert W. Floyd (1936–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art and nature are imitations, not of each other, but of the same third thing both images of the real, the spectral and vivid reality that employs all means. If we fear it in art, we fear it in nature, and our fear brings it on ourselves in the most unanswerable ways. (p 26)”
Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The principle of this art [as Mondrian proposes his view on modern art] is not a negation of matter, but a great love of matter, whereby it is seen in the highest, most intense manner possible, and depicted in the artistic creation.”
Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quote from Mondrian's sketchbook II, 1912/13; as cited in Mondrian, - The Art of Destruction, Carel Blotkamp, Reaktion Books LTD. London 2001, p. 78
“I believe that at times such as these my modest efforts may be useful to mankind. I have shown how the new art has succeeded in bringing about pure relationships, and furthermore how these can be created in day-to-day life. [Mondrian tried to convince the Dutch publisher Stols to publish his new manuscript 'L'art et la vie']”
Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) first seen 1932 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter to A. M. Stols, 26 March 1932; as quoted in Mondrian, - The Art of Destruction, Carel Blotkamp, Reaktion Books LTD. London 2001, p. 222
“Apparently an "art"—which almost by definition cannot be put into words—is probably best communicated by approaching it from many sides and doing so repeatedly, hoping thereby students will finally master enough of the art, or if you wish, style, to significantly increase their future contributions to society.”
Richard Hamming (1915–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It takes a great deal of strong personality to survive the art school training. Hard nuts that the art schools can't crack and devour get through and become artists.”
John Sloan (1871–1951) said by 1951 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source