Quotes by Artist | Beyond Motive 19/55

top of page

Quotes by Artist

"But slowly I began to use cameras and then think about what it was that was going on. It took me a long time, I mean I actually played with cameras and photography for about 20 years."

"But slowly I began to use cameras and then think about what it was that was going on. It took me a long time, I mean I actually played with cameras and photography for about 20 years."

David Hockney, English Artist

Time, Photography, Years

4

"Even in China. Children there, next to the Great Wall, who had never seen Mickey Mouse responded. So the studio did have that skill to communicate with images."

"Even in China. Children there, next to the Great Wall, who had never seen Mickey Mouse responded. So the studio did have that skill to communicate with images."

John Hench, American Artist

Family, Children, Mouse, Skill

4

"All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow."

"All the good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow."

Grant Wood, American Artist

Creativity, Ideas

4

"I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters."

"I saw Tequila Sunrise as a romantic picture with complex, bigger than life characters."

Conrad Hall, American Artist

4

"Yes, because when you're in love, you are shy."

"Yes, because when you're in love, you are shy."

Beatrice Wood, American Artist

4

"You are not going to get peace with millions of armed men. The chariot of peace cannot advance over a road littered with cannon."

"You are not going to get peace with millions of armed men. The chariot of peace cannot advance over a road littered with cannon."

David Lloyd, British Artist

Peace, Men, Road

4

"I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind."

"I think one of the reasons people quit is because they're afraid they won't be able to get better and better; that they have to come to a zenith of some kind."

Conrad Hall, American Artist

4

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."

Georgia O'Keeffe, American Artist

Time, People, Want, World

4

"I kind of do the drawing with the painting in mind, but it's very hard to guess at a size or a color and all the colors around it and what it will really look like."

"I kind of do the drawing with the painting in mind, but it's very hard to guess at a size or a color and all the colors around it and what it will really look like."

Roy Lichtenstein, American Artist

Colors, Mind, Painting, Will

4

"We thought everybody read comics. We didn't know we were weird. We didn't know people that collected comics were strange. It was as normal as listening to rock music on the radio."

"We thought everybody read comics. We didn't know we were weird. We didn't know people that collected comics were strange. It was as normal as listening to rock music on the radio."

Gilbert Hernandez, American Artist

Music, Thought, People, Listening

4

"Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties."

"Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties."

Emil Nolde, German Artist

Life, People, Difficulties

4

"It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self-deception."

"It may be that the deep necessity of art is the examination of self-deception."

Robert Motherwell, American Artist

Art, Deep, Examination, May

4

"You know a lot of what worked on this was taken from Harry Potter 2, the little Doby character, we had a lot of our skin stuff worked out and that helped a lot. We have a lot of exchange happening."

"You know a lot of what worked on this was taken from Harry Potter 2, the little Doby character, we had a lot of our skin stuff worked out and that helped a lot. We have a lot of exchange happening."

Dennis Muren, American Artist

Character, Skin

4

"First of all, I always see the sun! The way I want to identify myself and others is with halos here and there halos, movements of color. And that, I believe, is rhythm."

"First of all, I always see the sun! The way I want to identify myself and others is with halos here and there halos, movements of color. And that, I believe, is rhythm."

Robert Delaunay, French Artist

Art, First, Want

4

"But I've been surprised over the years. I mean, someone told me the other day that maybe 360 million people have played this game in the world. That's a lot of people."

"But I've been surprised over the years. I mean, someone told me the other day that maybe 360 million people have played this game in the world. That's a lot of people."

Don Bluth, American Artist

People, Day, World, Years

4

"Youth doesn't reason, it acts. The old man reasons and would like to make the others act in his place."

"Youth doesn't reason, it acts. The old man reasons and would like to make the others act in his place."

Francis Picabia, French Artist

Act, Man, Old, Reason

4

"The remarks about my reaching the age of Social Security and coming to the end of the road, they jolted me. And that was good. Because I sure as hell had no intention of just sitting around for the rest of my life. So I'd whip out the paints and really go to it."

"The remarks about my reaching the age of Social Security and coming to the end of the road, they jolted me. And that was good. Because I sure as hell had no intention of just sitting around for the rest of my life. So I'd whip out the paints and really go to it."

Norman Rockwell, American Artist

Life, Age, End, Hell

4

"There's tons of people with talent; it's the system that's all screwed up."

"There's tons of people with talent; it's the system that's all screwed up."

John Kricfalusi, Canadian Artist

4

"I thought it would be my one and only exhibition, so I decided to call it My Major Retrospective."

"I thought it would be my one and only exhibition, so I decided to call it My Major Retrospective."

Tracey Emin, English Artist

4

"When I finish a painting, it usually looks as surprising to me as to anyone else."

"When I finish a painting, it usually looks as surprising to me as to anyone else."

Howard Hodgkin, British Artist

4

"Collecting has been my great extravagance. It's a way of being. I collect for the same reason that I eat too much-I'm one of nature's shoppers."

"Collecting has been my great extravagance. It's a way of being. I collect for the same reason that I eat too much-I'm one of nature's shoppers."

Howard Hodgkin, British Artist

Nature, Being, Extravagance, Reason

4

"I think the responsibility lies with the fashion world as a collective. We have to demand more variety."

"I think the responsibility lies with the fashion world as a collective. We have to demand more variety."

Kevyn Aucoin, American Artist

Fashion, Lies, Responsibility, Variety

4

"The rest, called literature, is a dossier of human imbecility for the guidance of future professors."

"The rest, called literature, is a dossier of human imbecility for the guidance of future professors."

Tristan Tzara, French Artist

Future, Guidance, Literature, Rest

4

"We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children."

"We are all dreamers creating the next world, the next beautiful world for ourselves and for our children."

Yoko Ono, American Artist

Family, Children, World

4

"I think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time."

"I think the tree is an element of regeneration which in itself is a concept of time."

Joseph Beuys, German Artist

4

"Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility."

"Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility."

Pablo Picasso, Spanish Artist

4

"I'm thinking to myself, I just love doing the art, it takes me a morning to do."

"I'm thinking to myself, I just love doing the art, it takes me a morning to do."

Eddie Campbell, Scottish Artist

Love, Art, Thinking

4

"I always work out of uncertainty but when a painting's finished it becomes a fixed idea, apparently a final statement. In time though, uncertainty returns... your thought process goes on."

"I always work out of uncertainty but when a painting's finished it becomes a fixed idea, apparently a final statement. In time though, uncertainty returns... your thought process goes on."

Georg Baselitz, German Artist

Time, Work, Thought, Idea

4

"Read the folklore masters. Go to galleries. Walk in the woods. That's what you need to be an artist or storyteller."

"Read the folklore masters. Go to galleries. Walk in the woods. That's what you need to be an artist or storyteller."

Terri Windling, American Artist

4

"Any art worthy of its name should address 'life', 'man', 'nature', 'death' and 'tragedy'."

"Any art worthy of its name should address 'life', 'man', 'nature', 'death' and 'tragedy'."

Barnett Newman, American Artist

4

"With Jackson there was quiet solitude. Just to sit and look at the landscape. An inner quietness. After dinner, to sit on the back porch and look at the light. No need for talking. For any kind of communication."

"With Jackson there was quiet solitude. Just to sit and look at the landscape. An inner quietness. After dinner, to sit on the back porch and look at the light. No need for talking. For any kind of communication."

Lee Krasner, American Artist

Communication, Light, Quiet, Solitude

4

"I can take a lot of pats on the back. I love it when I get admiring letters from people. And, of course, I'd love it if the critics would notice me, too."

"I can take a lot of pats on the back. I love it when I get admiring letters from people. And, of course, I'd love it if the critics would notice me, too."

Norman Rockwell, American Artist

Love, People, Letters

4

"Art owes its origin to Nature herself... this beautiful creation, the world, supplied the first model, while the original teacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made us superior to the other animals, but like God Himself, if I may venture to say it."

"Art owes its origin to Nature herself... this beautiful creation, the world, supplied the first model, while the original teacher was that divine intelligence which has not only made us superior to the other animals, but like God Himself, if I may venture to say it."

Giorgio Vasari, Italian Artist

Nature, Art, Intelligence, God

4

"And since geometry is the right foundation of all painting, I have decided to teach its rudiments and principles to all youngsters eager for art."

"And since geometry is the right foundation of all painting, I have decided to teach its rudiments and principles to all youngsters eager for art."

Albrecht Dürer, German Artist

Art, Geometry, Painting, Principles

4

"A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world."

"A work of art when placed in a gallery loses its charge, and becomes a portable object or surface disengaged from the outside world."

Robert Smithson, American Artist

Art, Work, World

4

"Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway."

"Immortality is really desirable, I guess. In terms of images, anyway."

Damien Hirst, British Artist

4

"I'm very representational some of the time, and a little all of the time. But when you're painting out of your unconscious, figures are bound to emerge."

"I'm very representational some of the time, and a little all of the time. But when you're painting out of your unconscious, figures are bound to emerge."

Jackson Pollock, American Artist

Time, Painting, Unconscious

4

"The message here was not about indeterminacy, nor about immediacy, but about the control of sounds right there in your environment, and the process of composition as long-term growth of interests within that sound complex."

"The message here was not about indeterminacy, nor about immediacy, but about the control of sounds right there in your environment, and the process of composition as long-term growth of interests within that sound complex."

Tony Conrad, American Artist

Control, Growth, Environment, Right

4

"I once was interviewed and got so exasperated that I said, 'What do you want, a shopping list?' They kept asking, 'What's in this picture?'"

"I once was interviewed and got so exasperated that I said, 'What do you want, a shopping list?' They kept asking, 'What's in this picture?'"

Howard Hodgkin, British Artist

4

"I'm an artist, I'm not an academic folklorist."

"I'm an artist, I'm not an academic folklorist."

Terri Windling, American Artist

4

"Satire is fascinating stuff. It's deadly serious, and when politics begin to break down, there is a drift towards satire, because it's the only thing that makes any sense."

"Satire is fascinating stuff. It's deadly serious, and when politics begin to break down, there is a drift towards satire, because it's the only thing that makes any sense."

Ben Nicholson, British Artist

Politics, Satire, Sense

4

"That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally."

"That's why I like fast film. It gives you more freedom to light more naturally."

Conrad Hall, American Artist

Film, Freedom, Light

4

"Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation."

"Painting is not for me either decorative amusement, or the plastic invention of felt reality; it must be every time: invention, discovery, revelation."

Max Ernst, German Artist

Art, Amusement, Discovery, Invention, Painting

4

"Stuart Davis has more to do with what the United States is like than Hopper."

"Stuart Davis has more to do with what the United States is like than Hopper."

Donald Judd, American Artist

Art, States, United

4

"The best way to begin is to say: Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known. And now let us have a look at his paintings."

"The best way to begin is to say: Balthus is a painter of whom nothing is known. And now let us have a look at his paintings."

Balthus, French Artist

4

"But I don't sit down and think: this is meant for children."

"But I don't sit down and think: this is meant for children."

Dick Bruna, Dutch Artist

Family, Children

4

"Land really is the best art."

"Land really is the best art."

Andy Warhol, American Artist

4

"I do not deny that I have made drawings and watercolors of an erotic nature. But they are always works of art. Are there no artists who have done erotic pictures?"

"I do not deny that I have made drawings and watercolors of an erotic nature. But they are always works of art. Are there no artists who have done erotic pictures?"

Egon Schiele, Austrian Artist

Nature, Art, Artists

4

"I love to study the many things that grow below the corn stalks and bring them back to the studio to study the color. If one could only catch that true color of nature - the very thought of it drives me mad."

"I love to study the many things that grow below the corn stalks and bring them back to the studio to study the color. If one could only catch that true color of nature - the very thought of it drives me mad."

Andrew Wyeth, American Artist

Love, Nature, Thought, Study

4

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love."

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love."

Claude Monet, French Artist

Love, Art, People

4

bottom of page