Artist

Explore 195 quotes by Artists

Abstinence sows sand all over
The ruddy limbs and flaming hair,
But Desire gratified
Plants fruits of life and beauty there.

William Blake

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More information about this quote

Topic

Desire

Author

William Blake

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Blake, William. Poem written in his notebook. c. 1792.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "Abstinence sows sand all over." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of Genius.

William Blake

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

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Read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell at Project Gutenberg

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Topic

Genius Incremental improvement Progress

Author

William Blake

Source

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Medium

Poem

Genre

Philosophical literature

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

English

Time

1793 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Blake, William. "Proverbs of Hell." The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. c. 1790.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell." The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, edited by David V. Erdman. University of California Press, 2008.

Never seek to tell thy love
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind does move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,
I told her all my heart;
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears -
Ah, she doth depart.

William Blake

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More information about this quote

Topic

Unrequited love Love

Author

William Blake

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1792 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Blake, William. Poem written in his notebook. c. 1792.

Current Citation

Blake, William. "Never Pain to Tell Thy Love." William Blake: Selected Poems, edited by Nicholas Shrimpton. Oxford University Press, 2019.

I am not arguing with you-I am telling you.

James McNeill Whistler

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

More information about this quote

Topic

Communication

Author

James McNeill Whistler

Source

The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

Language

English

Time

1890 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Whistler, James McNeill. The Gentle Art of Making Enemies. London: William Heinemann, 1890.

Life is much more fun when you have to worry about money coming in.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

More information about this quote

Topic

Making a living Personal finances Work

Speaker

Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Source

Renoir: His Life, Art and Letters

Genre

Biography

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

French

Authentication Score 1

Citation

White, Barbara Ehrlich. Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters. Harry N. Abrams, 1984.

In art, there are only two types of people: revolutionaries and plagiarists.

Paul Gauguin

More information about this quote

Topic

Artists Art

Author

Paul Gauguin

Source

Letters of Paul Gauguin

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1895 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gauguin, Paul. "Un lettre de paul gauguin: a propos de sevres et du demier." Le Soir, 25 Apr. 1895.

Current Citation

Gauguin, Paul. The Writings of a Savage, translated by Eleanor Levieux, edited by Daniel Guérin. Da Capo Press, 1996.

Truth exists; only lies are invented.

Georges Braque

More information about this quote

Topic

Truth and lies Truth Lies

Author

Georges Braque

Source

Journals of Georges Braque

Medium

Personal journal

Language

French

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Braque, Georges. Le Jour et la nuit: Cahiers 1917-52. Gallimard, 1952.

Current Citation

Braque, Georges. Illustrated Notebooks: 1917-1955, translated by Stanley Appelbaum. Dover Publications, 1971.

The idea of knowing exactly where you're going is overrated.

Sarah Sze

The New Yorker

More information about this quote

Topic

Journey vs. destination Wandering Exploration

Speaker

Sarah Sze

Source

The New Yorker

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

2012 2010s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sze, Sarah. "A Million Little Pieces." Interviewed by Andrea K. Scott. The New Yorker, 7 May 2012.

A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good.

Andy Warhol

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)

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Topic

Food

Author

Andy Warhol

Source

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Warhol, Andy. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1975, ch. 6.

Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing!

Camille Pissarro

More information about this quote

Topic

Finding beauty Paying attention Perception Observation Beauty

Author

Camille Pissarro

Source

Letters of Camille Pissarro

Medium

Letter

Language

French

Time

1893 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Pissarro, Camille. Letter to his son Lucien. 26 July 1893.

Current Citation

Pissarro, Camille. Quoted in Letters of the Great Artists: From Blake to Pollock, edited by Richard Friedenthal. Random House, 1963.

For the sublime and the beautiful and interesting, you don't have to look far away.

Hedda Sterne

More information about this quote

Topic

Finding beauty The sublime Paying attention Beauty

Speaker

Hedda Sterne

Source

Art in America

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

2007 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Sterne, Hedda. "Hedda Sterne." Interviewed by Joan Simon. Art in America, Feb. 2007, www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/magazine/hedda-sterne

Art is a way of recognizing oneself, which is why it will always be modern.

Louise Bourgeois

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of art Self-awareness Self-discovery Self-knowledge Art

Speaker

Louise Bourgeois

Source

Bourgeois

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Kuspit, Donald Burton. Interviewed by Louise Bourgeois. 1988.

The two luckiest things that can happen to a contemporary painter are, first, to be Spanish and, second, to be named Salvador Dali. Both have happened to me.

Salvador Dalí

More information about this quote

Topic

Delusions of grandeur Self-satisfaction

Speaker

Salvador Dalí

Source

Life Magazine

Medium

Interview Magazine

Statement Type

Boast

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Dali, Salvador. "Dali." Interviewed by Winthrop Sargeant. Life, September 24, 1945, p. 64.

Art in its perfection is not ostentatious; it lies hid, and works its effect itself unseen.

Joshua Reynolds

More information about this quote

Topic

Subtlety Art

Speaker

Joshua Reynolds

Source

Discourses on Art

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1774 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Reynolds, Joshua. "Discourse VI." 10 Dec. 1774, Royal Academy of Arts, London, England, UK. Lecture.

Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

William Morris

More information about this quote

Topic

Simple living How to live Clutter Interior design

Author

William Morris

Source

Hopes and Fears for Art

Medium

Speech

Statement Type

Advice

Language

English

Time

1882 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Morris, William. "The Beauty of Life." Hopes and Fears for Art: Five Lectures Delivered in Birmingham, London, and Nottingham, 1878 - 1881. London: Ellis & White/Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1882. Originally a lecture before the Birmingham Society of Arts and School of Design. 19 Feb. 1880, Birmingham, England, UK.

The contours of its legs are extremely beautiful, along with the splendid articulations and grace of its flanks, a sweeter and more graceful pose has never been seen that could equal it, nor have feet, hands, and a head ever been produced which so well match all the other parts of the body in skill of workmanship or design. To be sure, anyone who sees the statue need not be concerned with seeing any other piece of sculpture done in our times or in any other period by any other artist.

Giorgio Vasari

The Lives of the Artist

On Michelangelo's David.

More information about this quote

Topic

Sculpture

Author

Giorgio Vasari

Source

The Lives of the Artist

Language

Italian

Time

1550 1550s 16th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori [Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects]. Florence, c. 1568.

Current Citation

Vasari, Giorgio. The Lives of the Artists, translated by Julia Conaway Bondanella and Peter Bondanella. Oxford University Press, 2008, pt. 3.

The mind loves the unknown. It loves images whose meaning is unknown, since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown.

Rene Magritte

More information about this quote

Topic

The unknown The mysterious

Speaker

Rene Magritte

Genre

Biography

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Magritte, Rene. Quoted in Magritte by Suzy Grablik. New York Graphic Society, 1970.

Instead of looking at things, look between things.

John Baldessari

More information about this quote

Topic

Thinking outside the box Artistic development Art

Speaker

John Baldessari

Source

Art in America

Medium

Interview Magazine

Statement Type

Zen koan Advice

Language

English

Time

2009 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Baldessari, John. Interviewed by Karen Wright. Art in America, Oct. 2009.

Museums have today become the new churches.

Christian Boltanski

More information about this quote

Topic

Art and religion Museums Decline of religion The Church Art

Speaker

Christian Boltanski

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1997 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Boltanski, Christian. Interview with Tamar Garb. Christian Boltanski. Phaidon Press, 1997, p. 11.

Art is not a thing-it is a way.

Elbert Hubbard

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of art Art

Author

Elbert Hubbard

Source

Thomas Arnold

Statement Type

Zen koan

Language

English

Time

1908 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Hubbard, Elbert. "Thomas Arnold." Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Teachers. The Roycrofters, 1908.