Quotes: Pablo Picasso

"Art is theft."

–– Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Spanish artist 

via: Sketchbook M 13, 2024, 2025, p. 19.

Quotes: James McNeill Whistler

"Art happens –– no hovel is safe from it; no prince may depend upon it; the vastest intelligence cannot bring it about."

–– James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), American painter 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2009, p. 186.

Quotes: Henri Matisse

"The role of art is not to isolate us in an artificial or neutral space but to help us participate in our life. Its goal is to be useful, not only beautiful. Its use is therapeutic as well as artistic. Art seeks to relieve, alleviate, heal." 

–– Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French visual artist 

Source: Judy Martin My Process blog, Monday February 10, 2025. 

via: Sketchbook K 11, 2025, p. 47.

Quotes: Marcel Proust

"... In fashioning a work of art we are by no means free, we do not choose how we shall make it but ... it pre-exists us and therefore we are obliged, since it is both necessary and hidden, to do what we should have to do if it were a law of nature –– that is to say, to discover it."   

–– Marcel Proust (1871-1922), French writer and critic 

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 152. 

Quotes: Sir Kenneth Clark

"Art ... must do something more than give pleasure: it should relate to our own life so as to increase our energy of spirit." 

–– Sir Kenneth Clark (1903-1983), British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster

via: Commonplace Book 2006-2009, 2008, p. 157. 

Quotes: Isak Dinesen

"There's no mystery in art. Do the things you can see, they will show you what you cannot see."

–– Isak Dinesen, pen name of Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (1885-1962), Danish writer 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2025, p. 46.

Quotes: Napoleon Bonaparte

"The art of being sometimes audacious and sometimes very prudent is the secret of success." 

–– Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), French military officer and statesman 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 44.

Quotes: Paula Modersohn-Becker

"Intimacy is the soul of great art."

–– Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907), German expressionist painter 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 39.

Quotes: Juhani Pallasmaa

"The impact of art touches something buried deep in embodied memory. It is a mystery." 

–– Juhani Pallasmaa (b. 1936), Finnish architect 

Source: Judy's Journal, Monday November 25, 2024 

via: Sketchbook 7/10/1, 2024, p. 18.

Quotes: Nick Bantock

"Of all the reasons for being an artist, there is one that outweighs all others: Art offers a path to our souls.

"But the path isn't direct. There are no shortcuts. The road is confusing, and seemingly getting lost along the way is inevitable.

"However, perhaps that is the point. After all, if it were simply a matter of going from A to B as the crow flies, how much would we learn along the way? In order to gather wisdom, we are obliged to stumblebum, our search careening us against the periphery of our comfort and comprehension."

–– Nick Bantock (b. 1949), British author and artist based in Canada 

Source: Nick Bantock. The Trickster's Hat: A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity. New York: A Perigree Book (Penguin Group), 2014; p. 4. 

via: Commonplace Book, 2013-2014, 2014, p. 101.

Quotes: Marcel Duchamp

"Art is either plagiarism or revolution."

–– Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French conceptual artist 

via: Sketchbook O 15, 2024, p. 38.

Quotes: Yoko Ono

"Art is a way of survival." 

–– Yoko Ono (b.1933), Japanese peace activist, performance artist, multimedia artist, singer and songwriter 

Source: WomensArt1, Instagram, August 5, 2024. 

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2024, p. 29.

Quotes: Dorothea Lange

"Art is a by-product of an act of total attention."

–– Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), American documentary photographer and photojournalist 

Source: Women's Art 1, Instagram, Monday September 23, 2024.

via: Sketchbook N 14, 2004, p. 24. 

Quotes: André Gide

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better."

–– André Gide (1869-1951), French writer 

Source: Adam Moss. The Work of Art: How Something Comes From Nothing. New York: Penguin Press, 2024; p. 11.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2024 p. 47.

Quotes: Leonardo da Vinci

"Art is never finished, only abandoned." 

–– Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Italian painter, engineer, inventor, and architect 

via: Commonplace Book 2022-2024, 2024,p. 182.

Quotes: Maya Angelou

"Because of the routines we follow, we often forget that life is an ongoing adventure ... and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art: to bring all our energies to each encounter, to remain flexible enough to notice and admit when what we expected to happen did not happen. We need to remember that we are created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed." 

–– Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist 

Source: Nitch on Instagram, Friday July 5, 2024

Quotes: Michael Snow

"Art is like a game, every time I feel like I'm going to lose, I change the rules." 

–– Michael Snow (1928-2023), Canadian artist

Quotes: Marcel Duchamp

"Art is a game between all people of all periods."

–– Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), French conceptual artist 

Quotes: Robert Henri

"The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."

 –– Robert Henri, born Robert Henry Cozad (1865-1929), American painter and teacher 

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 96.

Quotes: Helen Frankenthaler

"There are no rules. That is how art is born, how breakthroughs happen. Go against the rules or ignore the rules. That is what invention is about."

–– Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011), American abstract expressionist painter