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Only through art can we get outside of
ourselves and know another's view of the universe which is not the same as
ours and see landscapes which could otherwise have remained unknown to us
like the landscapes of the moon. Thanks to art, instead of seeing a
single world, our own, we see it multiply until we have before us as many
worlds as there are original artists ... and many centuries after their
core, whether we call it Rembrandt or Vermeer, is extinguished, they
continue to send us their special rays.
Marcel Proust, 1871-1922
The imitator is a poor
kind of creature. If the man who paints only the tree, or flower, or
other surface he sees before him were an artist, the King of artists would
be the photographer. If is for the artist to do something beyond this;
in portrait painting to put on canvas something more than the face the model
wears for that one day; to paint the man, in short, as well as his features.
James Whistler, 1834-1903
Of all kinds of painting,
figure painting is the most difficult; then comes landscape painting, and
next dogs and horses. High towers and pavilions are definite things;
they are difficult to execute, but easy to handle since they do not demand
insight.
Ku K'ai-Chih, A.D. 344-406
I desire you would use
all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all;
but remark all these roughnesses ... and everything as you see me, otherwise
I will never pay a farthing for it.
Oliver Cromwell, 1599-1658
One becomes a critic when
one cannot be an artist, just as a man becomes a stool pigeon when he cannot
be a soldier.
Gustave Flaubert, 1821-1880
In art economy is always beauty.
Henry James, 1843-1916
Painting is only a bridge linking the
painter's mind with that of the viewer.
Eugene Delacroix, 1799-1863
Art of any profundity can be
appreciated only slowly, gradually, in leisurely contemplation.
Daniel Gregory Mason, 1873-1953
Nothing can come out of an artist that
is not in the man.
Henry Louis Mencken, 1880-1956
Art! Who comprehends her?
With whom can on consult concerning this great goddess?
Ludwig Van Beethoven, 1770-1827
Now art should never try to be
popular. The public should try to make itself artistic.
Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900
The painter should not paint what he
sees, but what will be seen.
Paul Valery, 1871-1945
We need religion for religion's sake,
morality for morality's sake, art for art's sake.
Victor Cousin, 1792-1867 |