Artists, throughout history, have wielded the power of words as masterfully as they’ve wielded their brushes, chisels, or pens. Their insights, reflections, and musings encapsulate the essence of creativity, offering glimpses into their inner worlds and the profound depths of their artistic processes. From painters to poets, sculptors to singers, the words they leave behind serve as windows into the souls of those who shape our cultural landscape.
Within the tapestry of artistic expression, quotes by artists stand out as vibrant threads, weaving together wisdom, passion, and vision. These snippets of thought capture moments of inspiration, moments of doubt, and moments of triumph, providing both solace and stimulation to fellow creators and admirers alike. Whether offering profound reflections on the nature of art itself or sharing personal anecdotes of their creative journeys, these quotes illuminate the diverse spectrum of human experience through the lens of artistic expression. In the paragraphs below, you’ll find a curated collection of quotes by artists, ready to inspire, provoke thought, and ignite creativity in all who encounter them.
Everything is expressed through relationship. Colour can exist only through other colours, dimension through other dimensions, position through other positions that oppose them. That is why I regard relationship as the principal thing. Piet Mondrian
From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity. Edvard Munch
Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. Andy Warhol
I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape. Something waits beneath it; the whole story doesn’t show. Andrew Wyeth
Love the moment and the energy of that moment will spread beyond all boundaries. Corita Kent
Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality. Andy Goldsworthy
I don’t think you can create art out of anger; it has to come out of some form of understanding. You have to feel good about who you are and that you could do something to change things. Faith Ringgold
I was the least Pop of all the Pop artists. Robert Indiana
The secret to so many artists living so long is that every painting is a new adventure. So, you see, they’re always looking ahead to something new and exciting. The secret is not to look back. Norman Rockwell
The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak. Hans Hofmann
Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it’s in my basement… let me go upstairs and check. M. C. Escher
If you know somethin’ well, you can always paint it but people would be better off buyin’ chickens. Grandma Moses
There are always flowers for those who want to see them. Henri Matisse
If I didn’t choose art, I would have become an astronomer. Peter Max
Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the harmonies, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul. Wassily Kandinsky
Learning never exhausts the mind. Leonardo da Vinci
Fine art is knowledge made visible. Gustave Courbet
I don’t think about art when I’m working. I try to think about life. Jean-Michel Basquiat
We live in a rainbow of chaos. Paul Cezanne
Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity. Marina Abramovic
I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty. Georgia O’Keeffe
In art, there is no need for color; I see only light and shade. Give me a crayon, and I will paint your portrait. Francisco Goya
My art is a form of restoration in terms of my feelings to myself and to others. Louise Bourgeois
I am as mysterious to myself as I am mysterious to others. Leonora Carrington
Close your bodily eye, that you may see your picture first with the eye of the spirit. Then bring to light what you have seen in the darkness, that its effect may work back, from without to within. Caspar David Friedrich
If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for? Ai Weiwei
People don’t remember. Revenge is sweet. Tracey Emin
Real painters understand with a brush in their hand. Berthe Morisot
An artist is forced by others to paint out of his own free will. Willem de Kooning
There is a kind of beauty in imperfection. Conrad Hall
The importance of art is in the process of doing it, in the learning experience where the artist interacts with whatever is being made. Roy Lichtenstein
My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature. Claude Monet
I’m living my life, not buying a lifestyle. Barbara Kruger
All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites. Marc Chagall
Art is about changing what we see in our everyday lives and representing it in such a way that it gives us hope. Kehinde Wiley
The more social media we have, the more we think we’re connecting, yet we are really disconnecting from each other. JR
Truth exists; only lies are invented. Georges Braque
Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is. Jackson Pollock
Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge. Paul Gauguin
I spent a great deal of my life being ignored. I was always very happy that way. Saul Leiter
Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour. Giotto di Bondone
With just one polka dot, nothing can be achieved. In the universe, there is the sun, the moon, the earth, and hundreds of millions of stars. All of us live in the unfathomable mystery and infinitude of the universe. Pursuing ‘philosophy of the universe’ through art under such circumstances has led me to what I call ‘stereotypical repetition.’ Yayoi Kusama
Without ethics, man has no future. This is to say, mankind without them cannot be itself. Ethics determine choices and actions and suggest difficult priorities. John Berger
A line is a dot that went for a walk. Paul Klee
As I grew older, I realized that it was much better to insist on the genuine forms of nature, for simplicity is the greatest adornment of art. Albrecht Durer
A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. Yoko Ono
I think that if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up. Mary Cassatt
My work is like a dialogue between me and unseen powers, like alchemy. Cai Guo-Qiang
Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend. John Singer Sargent
My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind. Agnes Martin
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. Michelangelo
Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it. Salvador Dali
The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you’re an artist. David Hockney
There are no mistakes, only happy accidents. Bob Ross
I had a brother who was my savior, made my childhood bearable. Maurice Sendak
So smoking is the perfect way to commit suicide without actually dying. I smoke because it’s bad, it’s really simple. Damien Hirst
Art is longing. You never arrive, but you keep going in the hope that you will. Anselm Kiefer
I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste. Marcel Duchamp
I don’t think art is propaganda; it should be something that liberates the soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further. It celebrates humanity instead of manipulating it. Keith Haring
I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality. Frida Kahlo