Quotes by Artist | Beyond Motive 27/59

top of page

Quotes by Artist

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

Pablo Picasso, Spanish Artist

Success, Tomorrow

36

"A taste for simplicity cannot endure for long."

"A taste for simplicity cannot endure for long."

Eugene Delacroix, French Artist

Photography, Simplicity, Taste

36

"Get it - get it better or get it worse. No middle ground of compromise."

"Get it - get it better or get it worse. No middle ground of compromise."

Henry Ossawa Tanner, American Artist

36

"I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

"I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

Claude Monet, French Artist

Nature, Being, Flowers

36

"Over and over I'm on the point of giving it up."

"Over and over I'm on the point of giving it up."

Beatrice Wood, American Artist

Writing, Giving

36

"Beauty is as relative as light and dark. Thus, there exists no beautiful woman, none at all, because you are never certain that a still far more beautiful woman will not appear and completely shame the supposed beauty of the first."

"Beauty is as relative as light and dark. Thus, there exists no beautiful woman, none at all, because you are never certain that a still far more beautiful woman will not appear and completely shame the supposed beauty of the first."

Paul Klee, Swiss Artist

Beauty, First, Light, Shame

36

"Some people like to paint trees. I like to paint love. I find it more meaningful than painting trees."

"Some people like to paint trees. I like to paint love. I find it more meaningful than painting trees."

Robert Indiana, American Artist

Love, People, Painting, Trees

36

"Perfection is boring. If a face doesn't have mistakes, it's nothing."

"Perfection is boring. If a face doesn't have mistakes, it's nothing."

Kevyn Aucoin, American Artist

Mistake, Mistakes, Nothing, Perfection

36

"Nobody now is going from department to another department. Only Walt did that. I was very fond of him, really."

"Nobody now is going from department to another department. Only Walt did that. I was very fond of him, really."

John Hench, American Artist

36

"If they were starting their careers today, Rockwell and Picasso would probably both be painting on black velvet."

"If they were starting their careers today, Rockwell and Picasso would probably both be painting on black velvet."

Brad Holland, American Artist

Career, Careers, Painting, Today

36

"The older you get the stronger the wind gets - and it's always in your face."

"The older you get the stronger the wind gets - and it's always in your face."

Pablo Picasso, Spanish Artist

36

"Why do they cover Paul's songs but never mine?"

"Why do they cover Paul's songs but never mine?"

Yoko Ono, American Artist

Recognition, Songs

36

"Confrontation is something that I accept as part of the project though not its purpose."

"Confrontation is something that I accept as part of the project though not its purpose."

Andy Goldsworthy, British Artist

Purpose, Project

36

"The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness."

"The infinite vibratory levels, the dimensions of interconnectedness are without end. There is nothing independent. All beings and things are residents in your awareness."

Alex Grey, American Artist

Awareness, End, Infinite, Nothing

36

"I'm vulnerable to criticism. Any artist is, because you work alone in your studio and, until recently, critics were the only way you'd get any feedback."

"I'm vulnerable to criticism. Any artist is, because you work alone in your studio and, until recently, critics were the only way you'd get any feedback."

Howard Hodgkin, British Artist

Work, Criticism

36

"The men resent a woman getting any honour in what they consider is essentially their field. Men painters mostly despise women painters. So I have decided to stop squirming, to throw any honour in with Canada and women."

"The men resent a woman getting any honour in what they consider is essentially their field. Men painters mostly despise women painters. So I have decided to stop squirming, to throw any honour in with Canada and women."

Emily Carr, Canadian Artist

Man, Men, Women, Canada, Woman

36

"Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists."

"Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists."

Willem de Kooning, American Artist

Emotional, Feelings, Artists

36

"It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block."

"It is the eye of ignorance that assigns a fixed and unchangeable color to every object; beware of this stumbling block."

Paul Gauguin, French Artist

Perception, Eye, Ignorance

36

"Because you're telling a story, and I'm sure people fifty years ago would tell the same story differently if they were telling it to you today. Because the time is different. The film is the work of today's audience."

"Because you're telling a story, and I'm sure people fifty years ago would tell the same story differently if they were telling it to you today. Because the time is different. The film is the work of today's audience."

Dennis Muren, American Artist

Time, Work, People, Film

36

"Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world."

"Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world."

Edward Hopper, American Artist

Life, Art, Vision

36

"I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art."

"I make pictures and someone comes in and calls it art."

Willem de Kooning, American Artist

36

"A rich poet from Harvard has no sense in his mind, except the aesthetic."

"A rich poet from Harvard has no sense in his mind, except the aesthetic."

Beatrice Wood, American Artist

36

"I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script."

"I was very happy sitting alone at a dining room table, writing a script."

Conrad Hall, American Artist

36

"The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators."

"The artist is seen like a producer of commodities, like a factory that turns our refrigerators."

Sol LeWitt, American Artist

36

"What I didn't know was I was deeply attracted to the big space."

"What I didn't know was I was deeply attracted to the big space."

David Hockney, English Artist

36

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."

"The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Artist

Joy, Pleasure, Understanding

36

"I began to understand my sensations, to know what I wanted, at around the age of forty - but only vaguely."

"I began to understand my sensations, to know what I wanted, at around the age of forty - but only vaguely."

Camille Pissarro, French Artist

Age, Sensations

36

"If Art relates itself to an Object, it becomes descriptive, divisionist, literary."

"If Art relates itself to an Object, it becomes descriptive, divisionist, literary."

Robert Delaunay, French Artist

36

"I live and love in God's peculiar light."

"I live and love in God's peculiar light."

Michelangelo, Italian Artist

Love, God, Light

36

"I remember traveling around in Arkansas with Senator Robinson, and I told him what this little trick was. He felt very much part of it and had me take pictures of people unbeknownst to them."

"I remember traveling around in Arkansas with Senator Robinson, and I told him what this little trick was. He felt very much part of it and had me take pictures of people unbeknownst to them."

Ben Shahn, Lithuanian Artist

People, Traveling

36

"If the machines can take the drudgery out of it and just leave us with the joy of drawing, then that's the best of both worlds - and I'll use those computers!"

"If the machines can take the drudgery out of it and just leave us with the joy of drawing, then that's the best of both worlds - and I'll use those computers!"

Don Bluth, American Artist

36

"There are two types of people in the world: people who are passionate about things, and people who've had their passion punched, beaten, or whatever out of them."

"There are two types of people in the world: people who are passionate about things, and people who've had their passion punched, beaten, or whatever out of them."

Kevyn Aucoin, American Artist

People, Passion

36

"Some artists imagine they've got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them. As a result, they end up supporting a cultural prison that is out of their control."

"Some artists imagine they've got a hold on this apparatus, which in fact has got a hold of them. As a result, they end up supporting a cultural prison that is out of their control."

Robert Smithson, American Artist

Control, Artists, End, Fact

36

"Our understanding is correlative to our perception."

"Our understanding is correlative to our perception."

Robert Delaunay, French Artist

Perception, Understanding

36

"There is no such thing as good painting about nothing."

"There is no such thing as good painting about nothing."

Mark Rothko, American Artist

Nothing, Painting

36

"I thought it was amazing to work with authors, to get a manuscript and try to make up a cover for it."

"I thought it was amazing to work with authors, to get a manuscript and try to make up a cover for it."

Dick Bruna, Dutch Artist

36

"Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs."

"Just as food eaten without appetite is a tedious nourishment, so does study without zeal damage the memory by not assimilating what it absorbs."

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Artist

Education, Learning, Knowledge, Zeal, Study

36

"They were all famous and fantastic fellows."

"They were all famous and fantastic fellows."

Peter Scott, English Artist

36

"It was supposed to be in the second street project for Main Street. But who knows? Maybe it will be built one of these days. We never throw away any idea."

"It was supposed to be in the second street project for Main Street. But who knows? Maybe it will be built one of these days. We never throw away any idea."

John Hench, American Artist

Creativity, Idea, Project, Will

36

"I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream."

"I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream."

Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch Artist

Nature, Experience, Dream, Clarity

36

"As every divided kingdom falls, so every mind divided between many studies confounds and saps itself."

"As every divided kingdom falls, so every mind divided between many studies confounds and saps itself."

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Artist

36

"You learn just by trying and experimenting. By the time I was 14, I had my own comic strip in the Kansas City paper."

"You learn just by trying and experimenting. By the time I was 14, I had my own comic strip in the Kansas City paper."

Mort Walker, American Artist

36

"I'm not an expert, but I want to be."

"I'm not an expert, but I want to be."

Ben Nicholson, British Artist

36

"You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real."

"You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real."

Edouard Manet, French Artist

Interest, Living

36

"Color is born of the interpenetration of light and dark."

"Color is born of the interpenetration of light and dark."

Sam Francis, American Artist

36

"The battalion, the whole battalion was affected by the two killed just within a week of being there, and I think that that pulled everybody up to make them realise that this was a very serious business."

"The battalion, the whole battalion was affected by the two killed just within a week of being there, and I think that that pulled everybody up to make them realise that this was a very serious business."

Peter Scott, English Artist

Business, Being

36

"Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen."

"Artists today think of everything they do as a work of art. It is important to forget about what you are doing - then a work of art may happen."

Andrew Wyeth, American Artist

Art, Work, Artists, Forget

36

"I was a student at Harvard, and that's where I learned about so-called avant-garde music. Jackson Pollock, abstract expressionism and painting were well known at this time."

"I was a student at Harvard, and that's where I learned about so-called avant-garde music. Jackson Pollock, abstract expressionism and painting were well known at this time."

Henry Flynt, American Artist

Time, Music, Painting

36

"I must be more sensible and realize that at my age, illusions are hardly permitted and they will always destroy me."

"I must be more sensible and realize that at my age, illusions are hardly permitted and they will always destroy me."

Paul Cezanne, French Artist

36

"All sciences are vain and full of errors that are not born of Experience, the mother of all Knowledge."

"All sciences are vain and full of errors that are not born of Experience, the mother of all Knowledge."

Leonardo da Vinci, Italian Artist

Science, Knowledge, Experience, Error

36

bottom of page