Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art
Andy Warhol
If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.
Bruce Lee
Amateurs look for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.
Chuck Close
Once, if I remember rightly, my life was a feast in which all hearts opened and all wines flowed.
Arthur Rimbaud
Once you train your brain to focus on a well-defined goal, you will filter out skepticism from others as well as from yourself.
RISHAWN BIDDLE
Selling out is doing something you don’t really want to do for money.
Bono
| I paint for myself. I don’t know how to do anything else, anyway. Also I have to earn my living, and occupy myself. Francis Bacon |
| Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave. Constantin Brancusi |
| You are neither right nor wrong because the crowd disagrees with you. You are right because your data and reasoning are right. Warren Buffett |
| All my life I have worked to be able to earn my living, but I thought that one could do good painting without attracting attention to one’s private life. Certainly, an artist wishes to raise himself intellectually as much as possible, but the man must remain obscure. The pleasure must be found in the work. Paul Cezanne |
| The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary. Thomas Edison |
| Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. Henry Ford |
| I am rather like a travelling salesman. I deal in ideas. I do much more for people than just paint them pictures. Martin Kippenberger |
| If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo |
| The most common money-related mistake artists make is a reluctance to invest in their own careers. Caroll Michels |
| There is a certain combination of anarchy and discipline in the way I work. Robert de Niro |
| People think that at the top there isn’t much room. They tend to think of it as an Everest. My message is that there is tons of room at the top.. Margaret Thatcher |
| Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry.I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks. Donald Trump |
| We are no longer collecting art, we are buying individuals. Rene Ricard |
| Why do people think artists are special? It’s just another job. Andy Warhol Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. Andy Warhol Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches. Andy Warhol Death means a lot of money, honey. Death can really make you look like a star. Andy Warhol |
| An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision. James McNeill Whistler |
| Promotion and perception are synonymous twins of art marketing. Jack White |
“You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret, all the best people are.” -Lewis Carroll
| The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. Aristotle |
| Picasso is the reason why I paint. He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to paint. Francis Bacon The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. Francis Bacon |
| “…I paint German artists whom I admire. I paint their pictures, their work as painters, and their portraits too. But oddly enough, each of these portraits ends up as a picture of a woman with blonde hair. I myself have never been able to work out why this happens.” Georg Baselitz |
| “What is real is not the external form, but the essence of things . . . it is impossible for anyone to express anything essentially real by imitating its exterior surface.” Constantin Brancusi Don’t look for obscure formulas or mystery in my work. It is pure joy that I offer you. Look at my sculptures until you see them. Those closest to God have seen them. Constantin Brancusi |
| Art is made to disturb. Science reassures. There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain. Georges Braque |
| Don’t be an art critic, but paint, there lies salvation. Paul Cezanne A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art. Paul Cezanne What is one to think of those fools who tell one that the artist is always subordinate to nature? Art is in harmony parallel with nature. Paul Cezanne |
| Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing. Salvador Dali |
| Do not fear mistakes – there are none. Miles David |
| Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. Degas |
| What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough. Eugene Delacroix |
| When I was a kid, a book I read advised young artist to be themselves. That decided it for me. I was a corny kind of guy, so I went in for corn. Walt Disney |
| The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real. Lucian Freud I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it’s what Yeats called the fascination with what’s difficult. I’m only trying to do what I can’t do. Lucian Freud |
| “The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.” Alberto Giacometti |
| My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can. Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic. Keith Haring |
| If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint. Edward Hopper |
| There is no must in art because art is free. Wassily Kandinsky |
| How important are the visual arts in our society? I feel strongly that the visual arts are of vast and incalculable importance. Of course I could be prejudiced. I am a visual art. Kermit the Frog |
| What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter. Henri Matisse Drawing is like making an expressive gesturewith the advantage of permanence. Henri Matisse |
| I feel the need of attaining the maximum of intensity with the minimum of means. It is this which has led me to give my painting a character of even greater bareness. Joan Miro |
| To be an artist is to believe in life. Henry Moore |
| I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. Claes Oldenburg |
| I don’t say everything, but I paint everything. Pablo Picasso Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Pablo Picasso Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. Pablo Picasso There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo Picasso |
| On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting. Jackson Pollock The painting has a life of its own. Jackson Pollock |
| It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. Mark Rothko |
| In our time there are many artists who do something because it is new; they see their value and their justification in this newness. They are deceiving themselves; novelty is seldom the essential. This has to do with one thing only; making a subject better from its intrinsic nature. Henri de Toulouse Lautrec |
| Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry.I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks. Donald Trump |
| . . I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. Hatred, rancor, and the spirit of vengeance are useless baggage to the artist. His road is difficult enough for him to cleanse his soul of everything which could make it more so. Henri Matisse |
| The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel. Piet Mondrian |
| It is important to express oneself…provided the feelings are real and are taken from you own experience. Berthe Morisot |
| No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love. Edvard Munch |
| Painting is a means of self-enlightenment. John Olsen |
| I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. Pablo Picasso |
| Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God. Rembrandt |
| You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat. Pierre Auguste Renoir |
| For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh. Georges Rouault |
| Everytime I paint a portrait I lose a friend. John Singer Sargent |
| He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist. St Fancis of Assisi |
| I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say ‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly.’ Vincent Van Gogh |
| It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures. Vincent Van Gogh The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech. Vincent Van Gogh The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting. Vincent Van Gogh |
| Mark Rothko’s paintings are…. “like television sets for Zen Buddhists” Unknown |
| The fine art of painting, which is the bastard of alchemy, always has been always will be, a game. The rules of the game are quite simple: in a given arena, on as many psychic fronts as the talent allows, one must visually describe, the centre of the meaning of existense Brett Whiteley Art is the thrilling spark that beats death – thats all Brett Whiteley |
| It is through art, and through art only, that we can realize our perfection; through art and art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence. Oscar Wilde Art is the most intense mode of invidualism that the world has known. Oscar Wilde |
| The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. Emile Zola |
| Picasso is the reason why I paint. He is the father figure, who gave me the wish to paint. Francis Bacon I paint for myself. I don’t know how to do anything else, anyway. Also I have to earn my living, and occupy myself. Francis Bacon The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. Francis Bacon |
| …I paint German artists whom I admire. I paint their pictures, their work as painters, and their portraits too. But oddly enough, each of these portraits ends up as a picture of a woman with blonde hair. I myself have never been able to work out why this happens. Georg Baselitz |
| I myself do nothing. The Holy Spirit accomplishes all through me. William Blake |
| To see far is one thing, going there is another. Constantin Brancusi Create like a god, command like a king, work like a slave. Constantin Brancusi What is real is not the external form, but the essence of things . . . it is impossible for anyone to express anything essentially real by imitating its exterior surface. Constantin Brancusi Don’t look for obscure formulas or mystery in my work. It is pure joy that I offer you. Look at my sculptures until you see them. Those closest to God have seen them. Constantin Brancusi |
| Art is made to disturb. Science reassures. There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain. Georges Braque |
| Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle. Lewis Carroll |
| Don’t be an art critic, but paint, there lies salvation. Paul Cezanne A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art. Paul Cezanne What is one to think of those fools who tell one that the artist is always subordinate to nature? Art is in harmony parallel with nature. Paul Cezanne All my life I have worked to be able to earn my living, but I thought that one could do good painting without attracting attention to one’s private life. Certainly, an artist wishes to raise himself intellectually as much as possible, but the man must remain obscure. The pleasure must be found in the work. Paul Cezanne |
| Great art picks up where nature ends. Marc Chagall |
| The beautiful is in nature, and it is encountered under the most diverse forms of reality. Once it is found it belongs to art, or rather to the artist who discovers it. Gustave Courbet |
| Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. Salvador Dali Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing. Salvador Dali |
| Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. Edgar Degas |
| What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough. Eugene Delacroix |
| When I was a kid, a book I read advised young artist to be themselves. That decided it for me. I was a corny kind of guy, so I went in for corn. Walt Disney |
| The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real. Lucian Freud I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it’s what Yeats called the fascination with what’s difficult. I’m only trying to do what I can’t do. Lucian Freud |
| The object of art is not to reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity. Alberto Giacometti |
| My contribution to the world is my ability to draw. I will draw as much as I can for as many people as I can for as long as I can. Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic. Keith Haring |
| If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint. Edward Hopper |
| I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality. Frida Kahlo |
| There is no must in art because art is free. Wassily Kandinsky |
| A Good artist has less time than ideas. Martin Kippenberger I am rather like a travelling salesman. I deal in ideas. I do much more for people than just paint them pictures. Martin Kippenberger |
| In our time there are many artists who do something because it is new; they see their value and their justification in this newness. They are deceiving themselves; novelty is seldom the essential. This has to do with one thing only; making a subject better from its intrinsic nature. Henri de Toulouse Lautrec |
| Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master. Leonardo da Vinci |
| Life obliges me to do something, so I paint. Rene Magritte |
| What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter. Henri Matisse Drawing is like making an expressive gesturewith the advantage of permanence. Henri Matisse . . I have always sought to be understood and, while I was taken to task by critics or colleagues, I thought they were right, assuming I had not been clear enough to be understood. This assumption allowed me to work my whole life without hatred and even without bitterness toward criticism, regardless of its source. I counted solely on the clarity of expression of my work to gain my ends. Hatred, rancor, and the spirit of vengeance are useless baggage to the artist. His road is difficult enough for him to cleanse his soul of everything which could make it more so. Henri Matisse Creativity takes courage. Henri Matisse |
| If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. Michelangelo Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish. Michelangelo |
| I feel the need of attaining the maximum of intensity with the minimum of means. It is this which has led me to give my painting a character of even greater bareness. Joan Miro |
| The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel. Piet Mondrian |
| Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment. Claude Monet |
| To be an artist is to believe in life. Henry Moore |
| It is important to express oneself…provided the feelings are real and are taken from you own experience. Berthe Morisot |
| Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye.. it also includes the inner pictures of the soul. Edvard Munch No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love. Edvard Munch |
| So I said to myself-I’ll paint what I see-what the flower is to me but I’ll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking the time to look at it-I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers. Georgia O’Keeffe I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for. Georgia O’Keeffe |
| I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. Claes Oldenburg |
| Painting is a means of self-enlightenment. John Olsen |
| On the floor I am more at ease. I feel nearer, more a part of the painting, since this way I can walk around it, work from the four sides and literally be in the painting. Jackson Pollock The painting has a life of its own. Jackson Pollock Every good painter paints what he is. Jackson Pollock |
| If you want to have clean ideas, change them as often as you change your shirts. Francis Picabia |
| I don’t say everything, but I paint everything. Pablo Picasso Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Pablo Picasso I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. Pablo Picasso Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. Pablo Picasso There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun. Pablo Picasso Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. Pablo Picasso |
| Painting is the grandchild of nature. It is related to God. Rembrandt |
| You come to nature with all her theories, and she knocks them all flat. Pierre Auguste Renoir |
| It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing. Mark Rothko |
| For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh. Georges Rouault |
| Everytime I paint a portrait I lose a friend. John Singer Sargent |
| It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures. Vincent Van Gogh The only time I feel alive is when I’m painting. Vincent Van Gogh I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say ‘he feels deeply, he feels tenderly.’ Vincent Van Gogh The emotions are sometimes so strong that I work without knowing it. The strokes come like speech. Vincent Van Gogh |
| I have Social Disease. I have to go out every night. If I stay home one night I start spreading rumors to my dogs. Andy Warhol Why do people think artists are special? It’s just another job. Andy Warhol Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. Andy Warhol Being born is like being kidnapped. And then sold into slavery. Andy Warhol Don’t pay any attention to what they write about you. Just measure it in inches. Andy Warhol Death means a lot of money, honey. Death can really make you look like a star. Andy Warhol |
| An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision. James McNeill Whistler |
| The fine art of painting, which is the bastard of alchemy, always has been always will be, a game. The rules of the game are quite simple: in a given arena, on as many psychic fronts as the talent allows, one must visually describe, the centre of the meaning of existense Brett Whiteley Art is the thrilling spark that beats death – thats all Brett Whiteley Everything is such a sort of stoned state… I walk around with a bunch of violets in my hand and a sledgehammer and a grain of sand in my head. I am happy. Brett Whiteley |
“I have the taste of almonds from your lips in my mouth.”
—Frida Kahlo
“I didn’t start taking pictures until I was in college. I had a crush on a girl who was a photo major, and followed her into a photography class. My Photo 1 teacher was Laurie Simmons, and my crush went from the girl to my teacher. As soon as I took my first pictures, my crush shifted from the teacher to photography.”
—Gregory Crewdson
“The most exciting thing is not-doing-it. If you fall in love with someone and never do it, it’s much more exciting.”
—Andy Warhol
“To me the most beautiful thing is vulnerability.”
—Alec Soth
“The drawings are the scheme for the project. After that, we do everything together: Choose the rope, the fabric, the thickness of the fabric, the amount of fabric, the color; we argue, and we think about it.”
—Christo
“I don’t draw, and he [Christo] doesn’t do the taxes.”
—Jeanne-Claude
“I draw flowers every day on my iPhone and send them to my friends, so they get fresh flowers every morning.”
—David Hockney
“I love red so much that I almost want to paint everything red.”
—Alexander Calder
“In a burning building, I would save a cat before a Rembrandt.”
—Alberto Giacometti
“Tires have given me much joy.”
—Carol Rama