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“We must also point out that it is precisely the metaphysical element of painting that provokes the creation of a physical substance that corresponds to its necessities, a material that permits the metaphysical element to manifest itself in the painted form it desires.”
Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from De Cirico's text 'A DISCOURSE ON THE MATERIAL SUBSTANCE OF PAINT', 1942, p. 542
“I think half the point of painting a picture is that you don't know what will happen … that if painters did know what was going to happen they wouldn't bother to do it.”
Lucian Freud (1922–2011) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Martin Gayford, Independent on Sunday (26 May 2002)
“When I look at a body I know it gives me choices of what to put in a painting; what will suit me and what won't. There is a distinction between fact and truth. Truth has an element of revelation about it. If something is true, it does more than strike one as merely being so.”
Lucian Freud (1922–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Painting is over and done with. Who could do anything better than this propeller? Look, could you do that?”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) first seen 1919 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Duchamp's remark to Brancusi, visiting the Paris Aviation Show of 1919; as quoted in Looking at Dada, eds. Sarah Ganz Blythe & Edward D. Powers - The Museum of Modern Art New York, ISBN: 087070-705-1; p. 49
“Well, this man [the T.V. interviewer of Jasper Johns,] wanted to know why I stopped painting [the so-called famous 'Silence of Duchamp'].. ..and he had said [it was] because of dealers and money and various reasons. Largely moralistic reasons.. ..But you know; it wasn’t like that. It’s like you break a leg; you don't mean to do it.”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in: Jasper Johns, Writings, sketchbook Notes, Interviews, ed. Kirk Varnedoe, Moma, New York, 1996; p. 151
“..paint was always [in history of painting] a means to an end, whether the end was religious, social, decorative or romantic. Now it's become an end in itself..”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in 'Artist's Voice', Kuh; as cited in Outside the Lines, David W. Galenson, Harvard University Press, 2001, p. 109
“I was interested in ideas - not merely in visual products. I wanted to put painting once again at the service of the mind.”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Painting is..] a kind of war between the moment and the pull of memory.(quote in 1959)”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Abstract Expressionism, David Anfam, Thames and Hudson Ltd London, 1990, p. 155
“I got sick and tired of all that Purity! Wanted to tell stories.. [Guston's quote in 1967, referring to his swift from Abstract expressionism to figurative painting]”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abstract Expressionism, David Anfam, Thames and Hudson Ltd London, 1990, p. 207
“I should like to paint like an man who has never seen a painting, but this man – myself – lives in a museum.”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abstract Expressionism, David Anfam, Thames and Hudson Ltd London, 1990, p. 207
“I didn’t choose painting … It chose me. I didn’t have any talent. I just had genius.”
Grace Hartigan (1922–2008) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Grace Hartigan, 86, Abstract Painter, Dies" in The New York Times (18 November 2008)
“Florentine painting between Giotto and Michelangelo contains the names of such artists as Orcagna, Masaccio, Fra Filippo, Pollaiuolo, Verrocchio, Leonardo, and Botticelli. ... Forget that they were painters, they remain great sculptors; forget that they were sculptors, and still they remain architects, poets, and even men of science.”
Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The conviction that painting is the right profession grows stronger and stronger in me. Writing is the only other thing I still feel attracted to. Perhaps when I am mature I shall go back to it.”
Paul Klee (1879–1940) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote (1899), # 93, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1964
“Towards the end of the month I prepared engravings; first, invented appropriate drawings. Not that I want to become a specialist now. But painting with its failures cries out for the relief of minor successes. Nowadays I am a very tired painter, but my skill as a draftsman holds [me] up.”
Paul Klee (1879–1940) first seen 1904 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote (1904), # 512, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1964
“Polyphonic painting is superior to music in that, here, the time element becomes a spatial element. The notion of simultaneity stands out even more richly.”
Paul Klee (1879–1940) first seen 1917 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Paul Klee, quote from 'Diaries III', 1917; as quoted in 'Klee & Kandinsky', 2015 exhibition text, Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau Munich, 2015-2016
“Poetry = heightened talking. Novel = heightened story. Painting = heightened seeing.”
Philip Larkin (1922–1985) first seen 1941 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (23 May 1941) <!-- Anthony Thwaite, ed., Selected Letters of Philip
“An abstract painting will react to you if you react to it. You get from it what you bring to it. It will meet you half way but no further. It is alive if you are. It represents something and so do you. YOU, SIR, ARE A SPACE, TOO.”
Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967) first seen 1947 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Quote from the six-page comic How to Look at Art, in Arts & Architecture, January 1947.
“My painting represents the victory of the forces of darkness and peace over the powers of light and evil. [1957, reacting on a remark of Picasso ]”
Ad Reinhardt (1913–1967) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Pax, no. 13, 1960; as quoted in Abstract Expressionism: Creators and Critics, ed. Clifford Ross, Abrahams Publishers, New York 1990, p. 151
“I transformed myself in the zero of form and emerged from nothing to creation, that is, to Suprematism, to the new realism in painting – to non-objective creation.”
Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: November 1916, in: 'From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism: The New Realism in Painting'
“Painting, literature, music, are more closely allied than the public usually admit. They are merely different means of expression.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'..learn to draw: that's where most of you [Troyon's pupils] are falling down today.. ..draw with all your might; you can never learn too much. However, don’t neglect painting, go to the country from time to time and make studies and above all develop them..' [Monet is quoting in his letter Troyon, a friend of Boudin in Paris]”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in a letter to , 1859; as quoted in Discovering Art, – The life time and work of the World's greatest Artists, MONET; K.E. Sullivan, Brockhamptonpress, London 2004, p. 11
“By way of news, I can tell you that Couture, that bad-tempered fellow, has completely given up painting. It's no great pity; in this exhibition, he had some really bad paintings.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1860 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in a letter to , February 10, 1860: As cited in: Angelika Taschen (1999) Monet, p. 24
“I have at last found a suitable spot and settled her. I have already spend a few days working and started eight canvases, which I hope, if the weather favours me, will give an idea of Norway and the environs of Christiania.. .This morning I was painting under constant falling snow. You would have burst out laughing seeing me white all over, my beard overgrown with icicles.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1895 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in his letter from Sandviken to Gustave Geffroy, late January 1895; (Geoffrey, 1922, vol 2 pp. 87-88); as cited in: Nathalia Brodskaya, Claude Monet, 2011, p. 106
“Ninety percent of the theory of Impressionist painting is in.. ..Ruskin's Elements.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote attributed to Claude Monet, talking to a British journalist in 1900, by Wynford Dewhurst in 'What is impressionism?', Contemporary Review, March 1991; Cited in: John Ruskin (2012) The Elements of Drawing. p. viii
“Nothing in the whole world is of interest to me but my painting and my flowers.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: his remark, shortly after the death of his second wife Alice in 1911; as quoted in: K.E. Sullivan Monet: Discovering Art, Brockhampton press, London (2004), p. 76
“It took me a long time to understand my water lilies.. .I planted them for pleasure, and grew them without thinking of painting them.. You don't absorb a landscape in a day.. .And then, all of a sudden, I had the revelation of the enchantment of my pond. I took up my palette.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in Marc Elder, A Giverny, chez Claude Monet (1924); as quoted in: Vivian Russell (1998) Monet's Water Lilies: The Inspiration of a Floating World. p. 19
“I've already done studies [for his large-scale painting w:The Burial at Ornans ] of the mayor, who weighs 400, the parish priest, the justice of the peace, the cross bearer, the notary Marlet, the assistant mayor, my friends, my father, the choirboys, the grave digger, two old revolutionaries from [17]'93...”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1849 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark to Champfleury, (End of 1849); as quoted in Georges Riat Gustave Courbet, Parkstone International (2015).
“It is not often that one encounters so complete an expression of poverty and so, right then and there I got the idea for a painting. I told them to come to my studio the next morning.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1850 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote, 1850's explaining to Champfleury and the writer Francis Wey; as cited on Wikipedia; Masanès, Fabrice 2006, p. 31
“I heard the comments of the crowd in front of the painting of Burial at Ornans, I had the courage to read the nonsense that was printed regarding this picture and I wrote this article.. [in Le Messager de l'Assemblée]”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from an article in 'Le Messager de l'Assemblée' (25 & 26 February 1851); as cited in 'Posterity', Musée-d'Orsay
“In spite of being assailed by hypochondria, I have launched into an enormous painting 20 feet by 12, perhaps even bigger than Burial', which will show that I am still alive, and so is Realism, as Realism exists...It is society at its best, its worst, its average. In short, it's my way of seeing society with all its interests and passions. It's the whole world coming to me to be painted..”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1854 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a letter of Courbet to his friend w:Champfleury, (Autumn 1854); as quoted in 'Courbet Speaks', 'Courbet-dossier', Musée-dOrsay
“When I got back to Ornans, I spent a few days hunting. I quite like the subject of violent exercise...It makes the most surprising painting you can imagine. There are thirty life-size figures in it. It is the moral and physical history of my studio”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) first seen 1854 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from a letter of Courbet to Bruyas, (December 1854); as cited in 'Courbet Speaks', 'Courbet-dossier', Musée-dOrsay
“An epoch can only be reproduced by its own artists, I mean by the artists who lived in it. I hold the artists of one century basically incapable of reproducing the aspect of a past or future century-in other words, of painting the past or the future.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) said by 1877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Painting is but another word for feeling.”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Constable's letter to Rev. John Fisher October 1821
“Still I should paint my own places best; painting is with me but another word for feeling, and I associate "my careless boyhood" with all that lies on the banks of the Stour; those scenes made me a painter, and I am grateful; that is, I had often thought of pictures of them before ever I touched a pencil, and your picture ['The White Horse'] is one of the strongest instance I can recollect of it.”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from John Constable's letter to Rev. John Fisher (23 October 1821), from John Constable's Correspondence, part 6, pp. 76-78
“I am most anxious to get into my London painting-room, for I do not consider myself at work unless I am before a six-foot canvas. I have done a good deal of skying for I am determined to conquer all difficulties, and that among the rest.”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1821 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from John Constable's letter to Rev. John Fisher (23 October 1821), as quoted in Richard Friedenthal, Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock (Thames and Hudson, London, 1963), p. 41
“On the death of these great men [Rembrandt, Ruysdael and Cuyp] Landscape rapidly declined; and during almost the whole of the succeeding century, little was produced.. .From this degraded and fallen state it is delightful to say that landscape painting revived in our own country [England], in all its purity, simplicity, and grandeur, in the works of Wilson, Gainsborough, Cozens, and Girtin.”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Constable's lecture at Hampstead, 1833; as quoted in: 'A brief history of weather in European landscape art', John E. Thornes, in Weather Volume 55, Issue 10 Oct. 2000, p. 367
“Painting is a science and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature. Why, then, may not a landscape be considered as a branch of natural philosophy, of which pictures are but experiments?”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1836 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from 'The History of Landscape Painting,' fourth lecture, Royal Institution (16 June 1836), from John Constable's Discourses, ed. R.B. Beckett, (Ipswich, Suffolk Records Society, 1970), p. 69.
“* the dividing line between the painterly and the linear [painting] is by no means a hard and fast one.”
Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: 'Post painterly abstraction', Clement Greenberg, exh. Cat. County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1964
“The paradox in the evolution of French painting from Courbet to Cézanne is how it was brought to the verge of abstraction in and by its very effort to transcribe visual appearance with ever greater fidelity.”
Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the Role of Nature in Modernist Painting" (1949), p. 171
“Don't lose sight of the essential objectives of painting, which are expression, emotion, delectation; to understand the means, to paint decoratively, to exalt form and color.”
Maurice Denis (1870–1943) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Denis' Journal, 1930; as cited on Wikipedia: Maurice Denis - reference [43]
“It was in mid-summer [1906]. The colors of the flowers attracted me irresistibly and almost sudden I was painting. My first small gardens paintings were born.”
Emil Nolde (1867–1956) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Nolde, 1906 in Jahre der Kämpfe (The years of struggles); as cited by Francesco Mazzaferro in 'The Diaries of Paul Klee' - Part Three: Klee as a Secessionist and a Neo-Impressionist Artist
“As for the subject matter in my painting...it is very often an incidental thing in the background, elusive and unclear, that really stirred me.”
William Baziotes (1912–1963) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fifteen Americans, Exhibition catalogue, Museum of Modern Art, 1952 p. 12
“I consider my painting finished when my eyes goes to a particular spot on the canvas. But if I put the picture away about thirty feet on the wall and the movements keep returning to me and the eye seems to be responding to something living, then it is finished.”
William Baziotes (1912–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I can not evolve any concrete theory about painting. What happens on the canvas is unpredictable and surprising to me.”
William Baziotes (1912–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[to see the painting]..as an object, as a real thing in itself. (quote on his Flag-paintings)”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from: Abstract Art, Anna Moszynska, Thames and Hudson 1990, p. 200
“An invisible drawing made in the air. Make a drawing behind your back. Make a stolen painting.”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book A (sketchbook), p 40, c 1963-64: as quoted in Jasper Johns, Writings, sketchbook Notes, Interviews, ed. Kirk Varnedoe, Moma New York, 1996, p. 53
“Put a lot of paint & a wooden ball or other object on a board. Push to the other end of the board. Use this in a painting. – ruler on board.”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Book A (sketchbook), p 52, c 1964: as quoted in Jasper Johns, Writings, sketchbook Notes, Interviews, ed. Kirk Varnedoe, Moma New York, 1996, p. 58
“We are going to have perhaps a thousand years of non-representational painting.”
Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think my painting is so autobiographical if anyone can take the trouble to read it.”
Lee Krasner (1908–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: Anne Middleton Wagner (1996) Three Artists (three Women):: Modernism and the Art of Hesse, Krasner, and O'Keeffe. p. 154.
“I think every once in a while I feel the need to break my medium.. .if I have been doing a very large painting I like to drop into something in small scale. It is a challenge to go into this size. It is just to hold my own interest, and then each media has its own conditions.”
Lee Krasner (1908–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source