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
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Art
LoveFriendshipHappinessHopeFearCourageDeathLifeTimeWarPeaceFreedomTruthWisdomKnowledgeScienceArtMusicNatureMoneyWorkPowerGodBeautyLaughterFamilySuccess and failureChangeDreamsBooks and reading
“I see the new Latin artist as a pioneer, opening up doors for others to follow. And when they don't open, we crowbar our way in.”
John Leguizamo (born 1964) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The New York Times, July 14, 1991.
“Profound statements must be drawn by the artist from the most secret recesses of his being; there no murmuring torrent, no birdsong, no rustle of leaves can distract him.”
Giorgio de Chirico (1888–1978) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Letters of the great artists – from Ghiberti to Gainsborough, Richard Friedenthal, Thames and Hudson, London, 1963, p . 232
“Jerry Goldsmith is an artist who meets all the demands upon the composer in films. He communicates, integrates, subordinates, supports, and designs with discipline.”
Jerry Goldsmith (1929–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we give the attributes of a medium to the artist, we must then deny him the state of consciousness on the aesthetic plane about what he is doing or why he is doing it. All this decisions in the artistic execution of the work rest with pure intuition and cannot be translated into a self-analysis, spoken or written, or even thought out.”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My brother [the sculptor artist Raymond Duchamp-Villon had a kitchen in his little house in Puteaux, and he had the idea of decorating it with pictures by his buddies. He asked Gleizes, Metzinger, , and I think Leger [all Cubist painters, then] to do some little paintings of the same size, like a sort of frieze. He asked me too, and I painted a coffee grinder which I made to explode.”
Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from: Entretiens avec Marcel Duchamp, 1965; as cited in Futurism, ed. By Didier Ottinger; Centre Pompidou / 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2008, p. 198
“Everything is possible, everything except dogma, of any kind.. ..That's what it's about. Freedom. That's the only possession an artist has — freedom to do whatever you can imagine.”
Philip Guston (1913–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: 'It's About Freedom' - as quoted as last lign in 'It's About Freedom, Philip Guston's Late Works in the Schirn'; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt 11/6/2013 – 2/2/2014
“Can any mortal portray himself with words, as perhaps he can with chalk or paint? ... A gifted verbal artist may convey some coherent idea of a person he attempts to portray, but not likely an objective one.”
Bernard Berenson (1865–1959) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (reprint of 1949 1st edition)
“When we are self-conscious, we cannot be wholly aware; we must throw ourselves out first. This throwing ourselves away is the act of creativity. So, when we wholly concentrate, like a child in play, or an artist at work, then we share in the act of creating. We not only escape time, we escape our self-conscious selves.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Detachment and involvement: the artist must have both. The link between them is compassion. It has taken me over fifty years to get a glimmer of what this means.”
Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What does the artist create? Forms and spaces! How does he create them? In certain chosen proportions.. .O satire, you plague of intellectuals.”
Paul Klee (1879–1940) first seen 1905 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote (1905), # 599, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, translation: Pierre B. Schneider, R. Y. Zachary and Max Knight; publisher, University of California Press, 1964
“Spring. All the things an artist must be: poet, explorer of nature, philosopher! And now I have become a bureaucrat as well as by compiling a large, precise catalogue of all my artistic productions ever since my childhood. I have left out only the school drawings, studies of nudes, etc., because they lack creative self-sufficiency.”
Paul Klee (1879–1940) first seen 1898 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary entry (Spring 1911), # 895, in The Diaries of Paul Klee, 1898-1918; University of California Press, 1968
“Every artist creates with open eyes what she sees in her dream. (p67)”
Marge Piercy (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yesterday was an utter waste. An artist, of whatever stripe, has only so many days, to write or paint or dance or whatever, and each one wasted is that much that will never be accomplished.”
Caitlín R. Kiernan (born 1964) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (20 February 2005)
“What the artist wishes to do — as far as you are concerned — is to take you out of yourself. As far as he is concerned, he wishes to express himself.”
Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Literary Portraits. VIII - Mr. Joseph Conrad," in The Tribune (1907-09-14)
“In the middle classes the gifted son of a family is always the poorest—usually a writer or artist with no sense for speculation—and in a family of peasants, where the average comfort is just over penury, the gifted son sinks also, and is soon a tramp on the roadside.”
John Millington Synge (1871–1909) first seen 1901 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Vagrants of Wicklow, written 1901-1902, first published in The Shanachie (Dublin, autumn 1906).
“I recommend [the students] that you should work actively at the Hermitage and study the artistic structures of Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Watteau, Poussin, and other painters, even Chardin, where he is an artist. Study very closely their dabbing manner of execution and try to copy a small piece of canvas, just one square inch.”
Kazimir Malevich (1879–1935) first seen 1906 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter of Malevich to his student Yudin, summer of 1924; as quoted in Marc Chagall – the Russian years 1906 – 1922, ed. By Christoph Vitali, exhibition catalogue, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, 1991, p. 66
“Now to the great artist, everything in nature has character.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist who parades his drawing, the writer who calls attention to his style, is like the farmer who devotes his energies to polishing farm implements and never uses them.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An artist must possess consummate technique in order to make us forget it.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist who parades his drawing, the writer who wishes to attract praise to his style, resemble the soldier who plumes himself on his unif onn but refuses to go into battle, or the farmer who polishes the ploughshare instead of driving it into the earth.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the artist only reproduces superficial features as photography does, if he copies the lineaments of a face exactly, without reference to character, he deserves no admiration. The resemblance which he ought to obtain is that of the soul; that alone matters; it is that which the sculptor or painter should seek beneath the mask of features.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was quite young, as far back as I remember, I drew, but the gift is nothing without the will to make it worth while. The artist must have the patience of water that eats away the rock drop by drop.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live. Be a man before being an artist.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) said by 1917 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Rodin in H. Read (1964), as cited in: Karl H. Pfenninger, Valerie R. Shubik, Bruce Adolphe (2001). The Origins of Creativity. p. 50
“Did you know that I went to London to see Whistler and that I spent about twelve days, very impressed by London and also by Whistler, who is a great artist; moreover, he could not have been more charming to me, and has invited me to exhibit at his show.”
Claude Monet (1840–1926) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote in a letter to art-critic Theodore Duret (13 August 1887, L. 794); as cited in: Katharine Jordan Lochnan, Luce Abélès, James McNeill Whistler (2004), Turner, Whistler, Monet, p. 179
“I, who believe that every artist should be his own teacher, cannot dream of setting myself up as a professor.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) said by 1877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beauty, like truth, is a thing which is relative to the time in which one lives and to the individual capable of understanding it. The expression of the beautiful bears a precise relation to the power of perception acquired by the artist.”
Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) said by 1877 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“England, with her climate of more than vernal freshness, and in whose summer skies, and rich autumnal clouds, the observer of Nature may daily watch her endless varieties of effect.. ..to one brief moment caught [by the artist] from fleeting time..”
John Constable (1776–1837) first seen 1833 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote from Constable's Introduction of the 1833 edition of English landscape scenery, as cited in Constable's English Landscape Scenery, Andrew Wilton, British Museum Prints and Drawings Series, 1979; as quoted in: 'A b…
“The artist lives only day by day, and is the recipient of the things that surround him; he transposes sensations from outside, according to what the fate reserves him, but transforms them relentlessly and tenaciously, in a manner determined by him alone.”
Odilon Redon (1840–1916) first seen 1894 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in Confidences of an artist (1894) published posthumously in Paris in 1922 as part of the book of memoirs To himself; as quoted by Paul Westheim in Confessions of Artists - Letters, Memoirs and Observations of Contempor…
“Complete honesty has nothing to do with "purity" or naivety. The full truth is unattainable to naivety, and the completely honest artist is not pure in heart.”
Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Partisan Review 'Art Chronicle': 1952" (1952), p. 146
“The superior artist is the one who knows how to be influenced.”
Clement Greenberg (1909–1994) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Influences of Matisse, exhibition catalog essay 1973, Aquavella Gallery NYC: On Henri Matisse
“How glad I am to be almost alone as an artist among artists, with the whole swarm of artists somewhere else.”
Emil Nolde (1867–1956) first seen 1905 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: note of 13 March 1947; as quoted in Expressionism, a German intuition, 1905-1920, Neugroschel, Joachim; Vogt, Paul; Keller, Horst; Urban, Martin; Dube, Wolf Dieter; (transl. Joachim Neugroschel); publisher: Solomon R. G…
“There is always an unconscious collaboration among artists.. ..the artist who imagine himself a Robinson Crusoe is either a primitive or a fool.”
William Baziotes (1912–1963) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from Baziote's text for a symposium in 1954; as quoted in William Baziotes – paintings and drawings, ed. Michael Preble, Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 2004, p. 18
“I think the reason we [Baziotes himself and Richard Lippold ] begin in a different way, is that this particular time has gotten to a point where the artist feels like a gambler. He does something on the canvas and takes a chance in the hope that something important will be revealed.”
William Baziotes (1912–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Merce [Cunningham] is my favorit artist in any field. Sometimes I'm pleased by the complexity of a work I paint. By the fourth day I realize it's simple. Nothing Merce [Cunningham] does [choreography for dance] is simple. Everything has a fascinating richness and multiplicity of direction. [Jasper Johns did a lot of décors for :Merce Cunningham, as Robert Rauschenberg did and Frank Stella,]”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Merce, Hubert Saal, Newsweek 71, no. 22, 27 May 1968, as quoted in Jasper Johns, Writings, sketchbook Notes, Interviews, ed. Kirk Varnedoe, Moma New York, 1996, p. 129
“Every artist feels alone and isolated. Friends are very important in terms of all sorts of definitions of oneself. They tell you what you are and what they are aside from the intellectual aspects.”
Jasper Johns (born 1930) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Daily Close-up, after the Flag, Roberta Brandes Gratz, New York Post, 30 December 1970, p. 25
“The role of the artist, of course, has always been that of image-maker. Different times require different images.”
Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974) said by 1974 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Right up until today Pollock [her husband and famous painter; died Aug. 1956] well takes a lot of mine time.. ..and while you ask 'How much did it take out of me as a creative artist', I ask simultaneously, 'What did it give?' It is a two-way affair at all times. I would give anything to have someone giving me what I was able to give Pollock.”
Lee Krasner (1908–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The artist’s will is secondary to the process he initiates from idea to completion.. ..His wilfulness may only be ego.. ..The process is mechanical and should not be tampered with. It should run its course.”
Sol LeWitt (1928–2007) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Gerhard Richter, Doubt and belief in painting, Robert Storr, MOMA, New York, 2003, p. 88, note 17
“One does not paint for design students or historians but for human beings, and the reaction in human terms is the only thing that is really satisfactory to the artist. [in conversation with W.C. Seitz]”
Mark Rothko (1903–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quote of Rothko in Abstract Expressionist Painting in America, W.C, Seitz, Cambridge Massachusetts (1983), p. 116
“Don't underestimate the influence of the Surrealist state of mind on the young American painters [like his artist-friends William Baziotes and w:Roberto Matta in those days.”
Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) first seen 1951 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Abstract Painting, Thomas Hess, New York, Viking 1951, p. 132
“All my life I've been working on the work - every canvas a sentence or paragraph of it. Each picture is only an approximation of what you want. That's the beauty of being an artist; you can never make the absolute statement, but the desire to do so as an approximation keeps you going.”
Robert Motherwell (1915–1991) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as cited by Grace Glueck, in 'Robert Motherwell, Master of Abstract, Dies', by Grace Glueck, 'New York Times, 18 July 1991
“Nature then, is just nature. I admit I am very impressed with it. The attitude that nature is chaotic and that the artist puts order into it is a very absurd point of view, I think. All that we can do for is to put some order in ourselves. When a man ploughs his field at the right time, it means just that.”
Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: De Kooning's lecture Trans/formation, at Studio 35, 1950.
“I feel sometimes an American artist must feel, like a baseball player or something - a member of a team writing American history..”
Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) first seen 1963 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Willem de Kooning (1969) by Thomas B. Hess, Content Is A Glimpse, excerpts from an interview with David Sylvester, (BBC), Location, vol.1 no.1 Spring 1963.
“And then there is that one-man movement, Marcel Duchamp — for me a truly modern movement because it implies that each artist can do what he thinks he ought to — a movement for each person and open for everybody.”
Willem de Kooning (1904–1997) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in A Brief History of American Culture (1996) by Robert M. Crunden, p. 279.
“I was with this guy who was a plasterer, and at lunchtime he was eating a stuffed heart . . . I was thinking, "I'm not like these guys. I'm an artist." And I saw a bee come over to some flowers and get all the pollen out. I was looking and thinking, "How does it do that?" And then the guy who was eating the stuffed heart said, "How does that bee do that?”
Damien Hirst (born 1965) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Beckett, Andy. "Arts: A Strange Case", The Independent, 12 November 1995
“My dealer was a friend of the Beatles and the Stones, and he suggested they used a fine artist. I talked to the Beatles at length about what the cover would be. I worked out it would show the moment after they had played in a bandstand in the park. My big contribution was the life-size cutouts, the magic crowds.”
Peter Blake (born 1932) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cited in Charlotte Higgins, "It was 37 years ago today – and Sgt Pepper cover has still failed to pay", The Guardian, 2004-06-03
“Sgt Pepper made me more famous but it did not change me as an artist.”
Peter Blake (born 1932) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Colin Serjent, "Blake's 08, Nerve, Autumn 2006
“Brian Sewell is a fool. For some years he seemed to have it in for me and Hockney and [[w:R. B. Kitaj|[R.B.] Kitaj]]. Even if he wasn't writing about us he'd always find a way of bringing us in. He'd say, "so and so was a bad artist but not as bad as Hockney, Kitaj or Blake." Things like that.”
Peter Blake (born 1932) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Simon O'Hagan "Credo: Peter Blake", The Independent on Sunday (20 November 2005), accessed from findarticles.com (22 January 2007).
“Merz stands for the freedom of all fetters.. .Merz also means tolerance towards any artistically motivated limitation. Every artist must be allowed to mould a picture out of nothing but blotting paper, for example, provided he is capable of moulding a picture.”
Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) first seen 1920 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In: 'Merz. Für den Ararat geschrieben' (1920); as quoted in Kurt Schwitters, das literarische Werk, ed. Friedhelm Lach, Dumont Cologne, 1973–1981, Vol. 5 p. 77.
“If I weren't a Jew (in the sense in which I use the word) then I wouldn't be an artist, or at least not the one I am now.”
Marc Chagall (1887–1985) first seen 1922 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Bletlach (Leaflet - essay in Yiddish), Marc Chagall; published in 'Shtrom' No. 1, 1922