Quotes About Art

The best work that anybody ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing him, always.

Lucifer is the patron saint of the visual arts. Color, form - all these are the work of Lucifer.

I like elegance. I like art nouveau; a stretched line or curve. These things are very much in the foreground of my work.

Life and art had a nice parallel, in the sense of coming together as strangers who are separate in prison who need to work together, getting to know each other.

I wish to lead a life free from care, and I see that I shall be unhappy if I cannot always work at my art.

When it comes to my art work I would say that I am a perfectionist, although my sketchbook, and my process, is a mess.

For me a work of art must be an elevated interpretation of nature. The search for the ideal has been the purpose of my life. In landscape or seascape, I love above all the poetic motif.

The house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not.

Music is my mistress and she plays second fiddle to no one.

You are just as qualified as any expert to make a judgment and have a feeling or a response to any work of art.

For me it remains an open question whether [this work] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art.

Paint is a very sensual material. It's lovely to work with and lovely to look at.

I'm very happy to hear that my work inspires writers and painters. It's the most beautiful compliment, the greatest reward. Art should always be an exchange.

I always said God was against art and I still believe it. Anything obscene or trivial is blessed in this world and has a reward - I ask for no reward - only to live & to hear my work.

People who aren't artists often feel that artists are inspired. But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.

What the artist owes the world is his work; not a model for living.

What an artist learns matters little. What he himself discovers has a real worth for him, and gives him the necessary incitement to work.

A work becomes a work of art when one re-evaluates the values of nature and adds one's own spirituality.

Do not finish your work too much. An impression is not sufficiently durable for its first freshness to survive a belated search for infinite detail; in this way you let the lava grow cool.

If the work is poor, the public taste will soon do it justice. And the author, reaping neither glory nor fortune, will learn by hard experience how to correct his mistakes.

My weakness ... is architecture. I think of my work as ephemeral architecture, dedicated to the beauty of the female body.

I want to be the joy to people through my work.

My work disturbs people and nobody wants to be disturbed. They are not fully aware of the effect my work has on them, but they know it is disturbing.

The illusion of life is crucial for the work, otherwise the ideas wouldn't be able to jump across, people wouldn't engage with it.