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Art

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“A man that has a taste of music, painting, or architecture, is like one that has another sense, when compared with such as have no relish of those arts.”
Joseph Addison (1672–1719) first seen 1711 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No. 93 (16 June 1711)
“The arts in every field — music, drama, sculpture, painting — we can learn to appreciate and enjoy. We need not be artists, but we should be able to appreciate the work of artists. (5 November 1958)”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Footnote] At the age of twelve Nero had shown a lively interest in the arts, particularly music, painting, sculpture, and poetry. Why was nothing done about this?”
Will Cuppy (1884–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Although the great revolution of 1793 changed the whole face of France both politically and socially, it failed to emancipate the twin arts of painting and literature. In each case one tradition was succeeded by another, and nearly forty years elapsed before the new spirit completely broke through the barriers set up by a past generation.”
Wynford Dewhurst (1864–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“During the four hundred years of Han supremacy the march of civilization went steadily forward. Paper and ink were invented, and also the camel's-hair brush, both of which gave a great impetus to the arts of writing and painting.”
Herbert Giles (1845–1935) first seen 1911 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Civilization of China (1911), p. 37
“I wanted to burn down the 'École de Beaux Arts' with my cobalts and vermilions and I wanted to express my feelings with my brushes without troubling what painting was like before me.. .Life and me, me and life.”
Maurice de Vlaminck (1876–1958) first seen 1900 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of De Vlaminck; as cited in Picasso, Matisse and Modernism in Paris 1900-1910, Sue Roe; Penguin Press, 2015; quoted in 'Becoming an Artist' on Widewalls
“Originality at all costs has been as harmful to painting for thirty years as the Ecole des Beaux-Arts has always been.”
Charles Picart Le Doux (1881–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He cannot be seen as an Enlightenment figure. What we think of as eighteenth-century, in terms of architecture, furniture, painting and the decorative arts, came mostly after his heyday. He died in 1745 and was isolated by deafness and dementia from the late 1730s.”
Victoria Glendinning (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The museum is under construction. My interest for the fine arts began in the year 1978. I started to bring culture and whenever I bought a painting I have always succeeded!”
María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat (1921–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Despite the hundreds of attempts, police terror and the concentration camps have proved to be more or less impossible subjects for the artist; since what happened in them was beyond the imagination, it was therefore also beyond art and all those human values on which art is traditionally based.”
Al Alvarez (1929–2019) said by 2019 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Your stories always have a point,” Kaladin said. “I am an artist,” Wit said. “I should thank you not to demean me by insisting my art must be trying to accomplish something. In fact, you shouldn’t enjoy art. You should simply admit that it exists, then move on. Anything else is patronizing.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“She was an artist. Her circle were the libertines, the patrons and the hangers-on, bohemians and parasites, poets and pamphleteers and fashionable junkies. They delighted in the scandalous and the outre. [...] Her love-life was an avant-garde transgression, an art-happening, like Concrete Music had been last season, or ‘Snot Art! the year before that.”
China Miéville (born 1972) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. If he only shows in his work that he has searched, and re-searched, for the way to put over lies, he would never accomplish anything.”
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the genius is an artist, then he accomplishes his work as art, but neither he nor his work of art has a telos outside him.”
Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) said by 1855 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There ought to be but one large art warehouse in the world, to which the artist could carry his art-works, and from which he could carry away whatever he needed. As it is, one must be half a tradesman.”
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Conversations (January 1801)
“Mystic Art is spirit expressed into matter. A mystic artist receives and transmits revelation, providing their art as a medium for messages from the divine matrix of Creation.”
Alex Grey (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist's world. Just as a flower, by virtue of its existence as a complete organism is both ornamental and self-sufficient as to color, form, and texture, so art, because of its singular existence is more than mere ornament.”
Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) said by 1966 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The discoveries of science, the works of art are explorations — more, are explosions, of a hidden likeness. The discoverer or the artist presents in them two aspects of nature and fuses them into one. This is the act of creation, in which an original thought is born, and it is the same act in original science and original art.”
Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art that succeeds manages to evade or transcend or turn to its own purposes the strictures imposed on the artist; on the deepest level it is the enemy of authority, as Plato understood. Mass art is no exception.”
Ellen Willis (1941–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“One is to know that art is not national, that to be merely an American or a French artist is to be nothing; to fail to overcome one's initial environment is never to reach the human.. .Thus when we say one of the ideals of modern art has been internationalism, it is.. ..as a natural consequence of dealing with reality on a certain level. [quote in 1946]”
Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Abstract Expressionist Painting in America, W.C, Seitz, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1983, p. 439
“I was just falling in love right, left and centre with these gorgeous young artists who came in the gallery. They’d see this fat old stripper, this nutter who runs a butcher’s shop that she thinks is an art gallery, and who thinks she’s some artist but hasn’t even been to art school... They probably thought, "Christ, who is this woman who’s texting me 20 times a day?”
Stella Vine (born 1969) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Catherine Deveney, "Stripped bare", The Scotsman, (2004-03-14)
“This was my first encounter with art as art [when he saw 'Pinky' ['Sarah Barrett Moulton: Pinkie'], 1794 painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence and 'The Blue Boy' painted by Thomas Gainsborough.. ..somebody actually MADE those paintings.. ..(it) was the first time I realized you could be an artist.”
Robert Rauschenberg (1925–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Reading people like James Baldwin [made me realise] that, if you’re an artist, there’s no reason not to make art out of anything. Sex is a big part of the human experience. It’s something that we’re hardwired to think about. Why would you avoid making art about something that is so all-encompassingly important to human beings?”
Nalo Hopkinson (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve always enjoyed feeling a connection to the avant-garde, such as Dada and surrealism and pop art. The only thing the artist can do is be honest with themselves and make the art they want to make. That’s what I’ve always done.”
Jeff Koons (born 1955) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Jeff Koons in: Graeme Green. "60 SECONDS: Jeff Koons," at metro.co.uk, 2007/07/18
“... There's a machine which is called History of Art, which is a structure. And artist fits in this only because he or she is needed for this structure. If for example the History of Art needs some parallel lines, there is an individual who makes parallel lines. And this individual fits into this machine which works by itself; it doesn't care about people or anything else, it just goes by itself.”
Alexander Melamid (born 1945) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in: Francis Halsall, Systems of Art: Art, History and Systems Theory, (2008) p. 67.
“One of our core beliefs was that significant art could be made by anyone, anywhere and anytime. You didn’t have to live and work in New York City to be an artist. It was in line with the philosophy of Outsider art and movements for artistic "localism.”
Joe Lewis (artist) first seen 2015 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Walter Robinson. "Joe Lewis: Clairvoynace" at artnet.com, 2015.
“I've have tried to take from everybody [every artist in American Abstract Expressionism ].. .I can't close my eyes or limit my experiences.. .Because I live now, I am more interested in art now. It's different as any art is different from period to period. But it's no better or worse.”
Joan Mitchell (1925–1992) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in 'Art News', September 1958, p. 41; as cited in The New York school – the painters & sculptors of the fifties, Irving Sandler, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1978, p. 69
“The uprising of Art happens from the talents of the eternal conscience of man. The beasts don't have Art, neither do plants! But man, full of spiritual nature who can remember and know the information of World Artist, has been endowed with a energy to imitate a little of divine working.”
Laxmi Prasad Devkota (1909–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am working class artist. I am very happy if my work pleases or engages intellectuals or professional people, but my art is an art for the mass: I want to communicate this idea of intimacy and poetic transcendence to as many people as possible, and the idea that it is confined to one social demographic is abhorrent to me.”
Brian Clarke (1953–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art is not only made from things that "spark joy." Art is also made out of what is ugly or repulsive to us. Part of the artist's job is to help tidy up the place, to make order out of chaos, to turn trash into treasure, to show us beauty where we can't see it.”
Austin Kleon (born 1983) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By holding on to my independence and autonomy, I decided to make art that I felt authentic, art that was based on the recognition that as a woman, as a woman artist, I feel, see, and think differently.”
Orshi Drozdik (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Art is about man's belonging to the world and it is through art that man, through aesthetic emotion, experiences awareness of his existence. The artist grasps the world, and the world that appears to us in fractions he restores to us in unity.”
Ksenia Milicevic (born 1942) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Which Art Therapy for Resilience, Intervention on Resilience in Art at the 4th World Congress on Resilience. Resilience-Based Practices, June 28-30, 2018 Marseille, France.
“I think art is different. I think you have to be who you are. My art happens to be very integrally linked with my environmental concerns. But to be an artist, you have to be true to who you are.”
Maya Lin (born 1959) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maya Lin on Art, Architecture, Landscape and Memory" in Bloomberg (19 November 2022)
“I just decided to give up on art. I liked making work, but I think I had a vision of what an artist was. I thought there would be less struggle and anxiety. But it's impossible not to see art in your life. You really can't avoid it, it's everywhere.”
Dawn Okoro (born 1980) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Earl Hopkins, From small galleries to primetime TV, Dawn Okoro is shining under international spotlight, American-Statesman, 28 May 2022.
“As a curator and as an artist, I want to see how art can actually be the artifact. In the ReefLine’s case, the artwork itself is doing the work — and not just by raising awareness, but by performing what needs to be done. That is something I find very special, and something that is rare. I think that’s what makes the ReefLine so unique — it’s the combination of art, tech and science.”
Ximena Caminos (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All of us have an artist inside us. It's part of our DNA as human beings. We have all witnessed the power of the arts to deeply connect people, to open our minds to new ideas and express our innermost sacred selves. The imagination isn't just simply reserved for children. The imagination can be, for all of us, a very real gateway to joy, understanding, liberation and peace.”
Jennifer Beals (born 1963) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at The Dalai Lama Public Talk, University of Illinois at Chicago Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois (17 July 2011).
“The more a man cultivates the arts, the less he gets hard. There is an ever more sensible divorce between the spirit and the brute. Only the brute gets a good hard-on, and fucking is the lyricism of the masses. To fuck is to aspire to enter another, and the artist never pulls out of himself.”
Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) said by 1867 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[After the Portrait Artist of the Year programme on Sky Arts] [I]n two days in America and Britain, where I'm best known, all my pronouns were changed.”
Eddie Izzard (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) first seen 1955 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: …like captured fireflies" (1955); also published in America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (2003), p. 142
“One of the dangers of the American artist is that he finds himself almost exclusively thrown in with persons more or less in the arts. He lives among them, eats among them, quarrels with them, marries them.”
Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As to what I would like to be. It is difficult to say. An Artist of some kind. If nothing else I shall always study the Arts. People have always frightened and bored me, consequently I have been within my own shell and have not accomplished anything materially.”
Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in Pollock's letter, Los Angeles (October 22, 1929) to Charles and Frank published in Jackson Pollock & Family (2011) American Letters: 1927-1947, Cambridge, UK & Malden, Mass.: Polity Press, p. 16
“They say that truth is naked. I cannot admit this for any but abstract truths; in the arts, all truths are produced by methods which show the hand of the artist.”
Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) first seen 1859 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 12 October 1859 (p. 388)
“We are getting carried away by the on-the-move musicians. Most of the Carnatic concerts abroad are being organised by NRIs. The defining moment is when an artist is invited to a foreign land and applauded by the foreign nationals. They should forge artistic alliances and find new audiences by introducing people of other nationalities to our arts.”
M. Balamuralikrishna (1930–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The test of every act of creativity: Does it help you to enthusiastically, passionately, whole-heartedly and gratefully Embrace all your life? This, I believe, is the basic purpose of all the arts—and thus should be the basic Intention of every artist.”
John Diamond (doctor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We need to revitalize the arts and sciences today. We need to take responsibility for the future. We can't hide behind saying it's just for company profits, or it's just a business, or I'm an artist or an academician.”
Mae Jemison (born 1956) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nothing exists in isolation, we are talking about a systemic societal issue which is male violence against women, and within that, abuses of power, and hierarchies in the arts. As I have said about the 'not all men [are like that]' theme – I have yet to hear of a women boss forcing a male artist to masturbate: that just doesn’t happen. That just doesn't happen.”
Jenny Lindsay (born 1982) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From an interview, as cited in "This Script: Jenny Lindsay, spoken word poet, on her new solo show which tackles feminism, pornography and #MeToo", The Herald (Glasgow, 27 January 2018)
“The embarrassment that my presence caused – to the point of making me, in their eyes, some sort of ‘Invisible Man’ or merely the consort of a European woman artist – was understandable, as before me, there had never been, to my knowledge, any black man taking part in the visual arts ‘avant‐garde’ of the Western World”
Ernest Mancoba (1904–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Painting: Once upon a time a painting was a two-dimensional representation; now it is anything its author thinks is appropriate.”
Peter Greenaway (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything is love. "HEAVEN ON EARTH" our idea of heaven has been formed by painting and nothing else. I love pure, bright colours, their intellectual clarity of expression conveying nothing but feeling. Painting - the inspired animation of the surface.”
Stefan Szczesny (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He [ Manet ] begged me to go straight up and see his painting [ 'Le Balcon'] - Berthe was model for this painting], as he was rooted to the spot. I've never seen anyone in such a state, one minute he was laughing, the next insisting his picture was dreadful; in the next breath, sure it would be a huge success.”
Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) first seen 1869 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quote from Berthe Morisot to her sister Edma Morisot, after visiting the Salon of Paris in 1869; as cited in The Correspondence of Berthe Morisot, with her family and friends, Denish Rouart with Adler and Garb; Camden P…