Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,159,190 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“This is what I am interested in painting: black skin”
Meleko Mokgosi (born 1981) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Artists at Work: Meleko Mokgosi 11 August 2016
“For me, painting is above all a game, a space of freedom where I can experiment without limits”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But painting is not simply reproducing or representing, it is above all an exercise in intelligence and sensitivity”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My relationship with painting has never been academic”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For me painting is like a ritual, when I paint, I try to understand our existence, the elements that surround me”
Soly Cisse (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had to come out and do what I love. I started with the jewellery ( stretches out arm , asks her daughter to bring her the jewellery). One thing led to another, after some time I started painting again”
Ritah Namayanja Kivumbi (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Literally the same thing. I just don’t have as much time, but I would really, really like to do more staying home, cooking, just being with the kids, painting, decorating the house, shopping, and building stuff outside. I just built a chicken coop.”
Summer Walker (born 1996) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.”
Vincent van Gogh (misattributed) first seen 1908 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As attributed in Marry Your Muse: Making a Lasting Commitment to Your Creativity (1997) by Jan Phillips, p. 176; in recent years this ultimately unsourced attribution has become widespread, but the very earliest such at…
“Now I have lost all fear, and begin to draw on the black surface'" (Arp). Only love — for painting, in this instance — is able to cover the fearful void.”
Hans Hofmann (misattributed) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Robert Motherwell, partly quoting Jean Arp, in Motherwell & black (1981) p. 94 -->
“Happy painting and God Bless, my friend.”
Bob Ross (attributed) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ken Tucker (2006) Kissing Bill O'Reilly, Roasting Miss Piggy: 100 Things to Love and Hate about TV, Macmillan: , p. 155.
“Good native Taste, tho’ rude, is seldom wrong, Be it in music, painting, or in song: But this, as well as other faculties, Improves with age and ripens by degrees.”
John Armstrong (poet) (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Talk to them about things they don't know. Try to give them an inferiority complex. If the actress is beautiful, screw her. If she isn't, present her with a valuable painting she will not understand. If they insist on being boring, kick their asses or twist their noses. And that's about all there is to it.”
John Huston (attributed) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Advising a young stage director on how he should handle his actors (c. 1949), reported in Lawrence Grobel, The Hustons (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1989), p. 325
“Zendaya: "Thank you, Cher. Thank you for being an advocate, for being an ally, for painting the way for so many humans of all kinds to live in and speak their truth and to have the courage to be as daring and as open-hearted as you. Cher once said, 'You should never be inhibited by what people expect you to do.' And those are words I hope we can all learn to live by.”
“I was brought up in the British colonial type of painting, which I deplored. I had to do the little butterflies, the little flowers, and the little this and the little that in watercolors.”
Helen Lieros (1940–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As I began to re-identify myself with the African environment, so my painting became broader and my color stronger, symbolic of the felt experience,”
Helen Lieros (1940–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some jay of Italy, Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him: Poor I am stale, a garment out of fashion.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) said by 1616 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Whoever can endure unmixed delight, whoever can tolerate music and painting and poetry all in one, whoever wishes to be rid of thought and to let the busy anvils of the brain be silent for a time, let him read in the "Faery Queen.”
James Russell Lowell (1819–1891) said by 1891 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Painting is a creative expression of my inner soul. It is healing, energising and a quiet place for me. I become immersed in my work to the extent that I am unable to worry about mundane things.”
Ina Millman wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If nobody likes your work, you have to go on just for the sake of the work. And you're in no danger of letting the public make you repeat yourself. Every artist ought to pray that he may not be "a success". If he's a failure he stands a good chance of concentrating upon the best work of which he's capable.”
Gustav Holst (1874–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark to Clifford Bax, reported in Imogen Holst Gustav Holst: A Biography (1969) p. 81.
“You can rock shit as loud as you want, as hard as you want, but there's a soft side to every artist. You gotta have something more to say other than ("throws up devil horns") "YEEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!" There's gotta be more, otherwise you'd be fake.”
“The bee observe; She too an artist is, and laughs at man Who calls on rules the sightly hexagon With truth to form; a cunning architect, That at the roof begins her golden work, And builds without foundation. How she toils.”
James Hurdis (1763–1801) said by 1801 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That is the best story he could find in his life, never mind if it's the truest: an artist's duty is always to tell the best story.”
Wilfrid Sheed (1930–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“exclusively verbal humor have been conveyed by Harpo Marx, who with Charles Chaplin, Jimmy Savo, and Danny Kaye, ranks as a master artist of pantomime.”
Harpo Marx (1888–1964) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Muriel Rukeyser The Life of Poetry (1949)
“Tradition is not, as post-modernists maintain, a library or museum the artist plunders. It is the endless conversation between the living and the dead. Young artists enter into this conversation passionately — not merely intellectually, though study and analysis play a part. They live and breathe it. Tradition is not a public building. It is a love affair.”
Dana Gioia (born 1950) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Paradigms Lost," interview with Gloria Brame, ELF: Eclectic Literary Forum (Spring 1995)
“A painter must not only be of necessity an imitator of the works of nature...but he must be as necessarily an imitator of the works of other painters: this appears more humiliating, but is equally true; and no man can be an artist, whatever he may suppose, upon any other terms.”
Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) first seen 1774 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Discourse no. 6, delivered on December 10, 1774; vol. 1, p. 150.
“Happiness is not essential to the artist; happiness never creates anything but memories.”
Frank Harris (1856–1931) first seen 1916 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Oscar Wilde ([1916] 1997) ch. 21, p. 254.
“If I didn’t escape at intervals with straws in my hair and commit a thoroughly idiotic, irresponsible and undignified piece of foolery, such as having a newspaper row with a politician over the banning of Redheap, for instance, I should have no other resource but to take myself seriously as an artist, and perish in a just conviction of ignominy.”
Norman Lindsay (1879–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Kenneth Slessor, printed in Douglas Stewart, A Man of Sydney (Melbourne, 1977), p. 165
“Being pre-eminently a moralist, he needed a medium that enabled him to illustrate a moral insight as briefly and vividly as possible. Being an artist and sensualist, he needed a medium that was epigrammatic or aphoristic, but allowed him scope for fantasy and for that element of suggestiveness which he considered essential to beauty.”
Michael Hamburger (1924–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They're photographs by Adam Fuss. He's an artist. They are beautiful, artistic photos - more silhouettes than anything else. It's not like, "Hey, Mom and Dad are naked, come check it out!" But if I go to the bathroom and my kid walks in, I'm not going to be like, "Oh my God! Close the door!" They see their parents naked all the time. We are not ashamed.”
Heidi Klum (born 1973) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Admitting that there are nude photographs of herself and Seal hanging in their bedroom and bathroom. Quoted by Jennifer Weiner in InStyle, February 2010.
“The great artist liberates the emotions and recreates the sheer wonder of childhood without surrendering the development of the intellect.”
Walter Kaufmann (philosopher) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Weathered faces lined in pain Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand. For they could not love you, But still your love was true And when no hope was left in sight, on that starry starry night You took your life as lovers often do, But I could have told you, Vincent, This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.”
Don McLean (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm a debut artist, I'm not established — nobody would write about it if they didn't like it. So I'm waiting for the next album for the backlash.”
St. Vincent (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can hear one note of a Kate Bush song, or one note of her voice even, and know immediately what it is. And that is the biggest feat of any artist, especially when you consider, you know, all the roads that she's gone down.”
St. Vincent (musician) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having a little fun at my work does not make me any less of an artist and people who appreciate truly beautiful and original creations in pottery are not frightened by innocent tomfoolery!”
Clarice Cliff (1899–1972) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pasadena Evening Post (1931)
“The task of the artist at any time is uncompromisingly simple – to discover what has not yet been done, and to do it.”
Craig Raine (born 1944) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Guardian, August 19, 1988.
“But the cruellest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't. (23 March 2008)”
Ben Croshaw (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most valiant thing you can do as an artist is inspire someone else to be creative.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (born 1981) first seen 2010 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Details, 2010
“To keep in sight Perfection, and adore The vision, is the artist's best delight; His bitterest pang, that he can ne'er do more Than keep her long'd-for loveliness in sight.”
William Watson (poet) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some have considered such photographs as evidence that Eakins, if not homosexual or bisexual, was at least homoerotic. But the artist would undoubtedly have done the same thing with his women students if such a thing had been possible.”
Gordon Hendricks (1917–1980) first seen 1974 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Gordon Hendricks: "The Life And Work Of Thomas Eakins", Grossman Publishers : New York 1974, ISBN 0-670-42795-0, p. 160
“Ease is the great enemy of the artist. When you get too good at it, you just start performing what you can do and demonstrating it again and again.”
Chuck Close (1940–2021) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charlie Rose interview, 1998
“[On his aversion to being classified as a "photorealist" painter] No artist of any stripe likes to be categorized or pigeonholed or named.”
Chuck Close (1940–2021) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charlie Rose interview, 1998
“My mother was a Chinese trapeze artist in pre-war Paris Smuggling bombs for the underground. And she met my father at a fete in Aix-en-Provence; He was disguised as a Russian cadet in the employ of the Axis.”
Colin Meloy (born 1974) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Mother was a Chinese Trapeze Artist (5 Songs - 2001)
“The observation of nature is part of an artist's life, it enlarges his form-knowledge, keeps him fresh and from working only by formula, and feeds inspiration”
Henry Moore (1898–1986) first seen 1921 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Henry Moore, Sir Herbert Edward Read, David Sylvester (1957) Henry Moore: 1921-1948, p. xxxi
“Tell the Trustees I think it is a very good Sickert — but the question is whether he is important enough for the Tate. I think not; but as an old friend of the artist perhaps I am a prejudiced judge.”
James Bolivar Manson (1879–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in Frances Spalding, The Tate: A History (1998), pp. 62–70. Tate Gallery Publishing, London. .
“It is true that the environment does have an influence but what has much greater effect on the artist is love or hatred.He uses his setting to express these things.”
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Dr Uhlemayr-Savage Messiah By H S (Jim) Ede Heinimann (1931)
“The only way to development(as an artist) cultivating one's own innate powers.”
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915) said by 1915 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Dr Uhlemayr-Savage Messiah By H S (Jim) Ede Heinimann (1931)
“The great artist is conscious of the talent and power he possesses otherwise he would not see his faults and so would not be able to improve.”
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)
“The artist may rightly venture the opinion that he does not convey ideas, does not preach, nor that he intents to convert people by using mass communication techniques.. .Better than handing out all kinds of wise advice, he could show life itself; he could awake forces lying dormant in everybody, he could launch an invitation to create direct and personal experiences.”
Antoni Tàpies (1923–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life and mind are continuously in conflict with each other. I want happiness, security. I won’t reach that by considerations of my mind; on the contrary they will lead to a certain despair of the inner person. Not what he thinks engages the artist, but what he feels.”
Bram van Velde (1895–1981) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to H.P. Bremmer, 17-11-1930, City Archive The Hague, as quoted in Bram van Velde, A Tribute, Municipal Museum De Lakenhal Leiden, Municipal Museum Schiedam, Museum de Wieger, Deurne 1994 (English translation: Cha…
“The artist is living a secret that he has to make manifest”
Bram van Velde (1895–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source