Wisdom from the world's greatest painters — famous artist quotes on colour, light, creativity and the daily practice of painting. A little inspiration for your next session at the easel.
500 quotes
“The fundamental problem is not that there are limits on voicing different opinions here. The problem is that the whole society is dying through lack of responsibility or involvement.”
“I dream a lot. I do more painting when I'm not painting. It's in the subconscious.”
“One's art goes as far and as deep as one's love goes.”
“Andy Warhol: I think everybody should like everybody. Gene Swenson: Is that what Pop Art is all about? Andy Warhol: Yes, it's liking things.”
“The reason I'm painting this way is that I want to be a machine, and I feel that whatever I do and do machine-like is what I want to do.”
“If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface; of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it.”
“In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
“Pelé is one of the few who contradicted my theory [...] Instead of 15 minutes of fame, he will have 15 centuries.”
“If an artist can't do anymore, then he should just quit; and an artist ought to be able to change his style without feeling bad. I heard that Lichtenstein said he might not be painting comic strips a year of two from now [1963]. I think that would be so great, to be able to change styles. And I think that's what's going to happen; that's going to be the whole new scene.”
“You'd be surprised how many people want to hang an electric chair on their living-room wall. Specially if the background color matches the drapes.”
“(You'd be surprised who'll hang an electric chair in the living room. Especially if the background matches the drapes.)”
“(You wouldn't believe how many people will hang up a picture of an electric chair? especially if it matches the color of their curtains.)”
“(You wouldn't believe how many people will hang a picture of an electric chair in their room – especially if the color of the picture matches the curtains.)”
“(You wouldn't believe the number of people who hang the electric chair painting in the homes, especially if the colour of the canvas matches the curtains.)”
“If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface; of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it.. .I see everything that way, the surface of things, a kind of mental Braille. I just pass my hands over the surface of things. [1973]”
“Why do people think artists are special? It's just another job.”
“I can never get over when you're on the beach how beautiful the sand looks and the water washes it away and straightens it up and the trees and the grass all look great. I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want to own.”
“It's the place where my prediction from the sixties finally came true: "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." I'm bored with that line. I never use it anymore. My new line is, "In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous."”
“During the 60's, I think, people forgot what emotions were supposed to be. And I don't think they've ever remembered. I think that once you see emotions from a certain angle you can never think of them as real again. That's what more or less has happened to me. I don't really know if I was ever capable of love, but after the '60's I never thought in terms of "love" again.”
“A love of nature is a consolation against failure.”
“I don't think there has ever been a man who treated a woman as an equal, and that's all I would have asked, for I know I'm worth as much as they.”
“We don't make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practise, you can do.”
“You need the dark in order to show the light.”
“If you do too much it's going to lose its effectiveness.”
“The painting tells you what it needs long before you do.”
“Colour is the engine of the painting.”
“Don't be afraid in nature: one must be bold, at the risk of having been deceived and making mistakes.”
“It is the brushstrokes of the right value and colour which should produce the drawing.”
“Painting small and often is the surest way I know to improve.”
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