Quotes: Edgar Allan Poe

"There is no beauty without some strangeness." 

–– Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) American writer, poet, editor, and critic 

Source: J Demsey, Instagram, October 11, 2024.  

via: Sketchbook  O #15, 2024, p. 9. 

Quotes: Alvar Aalto

"Beauty is the harmony of purpose and form." 

–– Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), Finnish architect and designer 

Source: Katja Pantzar. The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness, and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu. New York: TarcherPerigee, 2018; p. 194.

via: Commonplace Book 2022, 2022, p. 91.

Quotes: Islamic proverb

"Beauty is goodness written in matter." 

–– 16th Century Islamic proverb 

Source: Karen McCartney. The Alchemy of Things.; p. 250.

via 2020 Aboveground Art Supplies Knapsack Sketchbook, 2022 p. 23. 

Quotes Agnes Martin

"When your eyes are open you see beauty in anything." 

–– Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-born American abstract painter 

Source: Judy's Journal Blog July 24, 2018.

via: Anvil Sketchbook, 2018, p. 72.

Quotes: Eleanor Roosevelt

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." 

–– Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), American author, activist, diplomat, political figure, and First Lady. 

via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 42.

Quotes: Elsie de Wolfe

"What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes with it; a house that gives us beauty as we understand it, and beauty of a nobler kind that we may grow to understand." 

–– Elsie de Wolfe (1859-1950), American actress, author, and interior decorator 

via: Sketchbook 28, 2015, p. 8.

Quotes: Jun'ichirō Tanizaki

"Beauty lies not in objects, but in the interaction between the shadow and the light created by objects." 

– Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965), Japanese Author

Source: In Praise of Shadows, 1933. 

via: Sketchbook 22, 2013, p. 46.

Quotes: Ernest Hemingway

"The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed."  

–– Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), American writer and journalist 

via: Sketchbook A, 2017, p. 47.

Quotes: Richard Le Gallienne

"We also maintain –– again with perfect truth –– that mystery is more important than half of beauty, the element of strangeness that stirs the senses through the imagination." 

–– Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947), English author and poet 

via: Sketchbook 19, 2012, p. 114

Quotes: Francis Bacon

"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." 

–– Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher and statesman 

via: Sketchbook 19, 2012, p. 114

Quotes: Christopher Morley

"Truth is the strong compost in which beauty may sometimes germinate." 

–– Christopher Morley (1890-1957), American writer

via Sketchbook 19, 2012, p. 33

Quotes: Oscar Wilde

"Beauty is a form of genius." 

–– Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish poet and playwright 

via Sketchbook 17, 2012, p. 94

Quotes 226: Agnes Martin

"Beauty is the mystery of life."

–– Agnes Martin (1912-2004), Canadian-born American abstract painter

via Sketchbook #26, p. 28

Quotes: Anne Michaels

Anne Michaels quote illustrated by Karen Thiessen with Gears pattern © Karen Thiessen, 2013

CBC Radio One aired an audio recording of this Anne Michaels book in the late 1990s and the above quote hit me so hard that I had to get a copy of the book and read it with my own eyes. Powerful stuff.

Quotes: Henri Matisse

"Much of the beauty that arises in art comes from the struggle an artist wages with his limited medium."

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

Beauty and necessity

"Important lessons: look carefully; record what you see. Find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful." -- Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces (p. 44)


Early in my studio practice, I listened to a lot of audio books. One audio book, Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces, moved me to such a degree that I had to read it again in book form. The above quote about looking, beauty and necessity resonated with me. I had just graduated from NSCAD and some of the conversations that I was "chewing on" were about the place of beauty in art. At that time beauty was taboo. Some leading artists and curators spoke against beauty, especially prettiness. Was the thinking that there is a fine line between beauty and pretty, so let's just do away with both?