“Life is short, and Art long; the crisis fleeting; experience perilous, and decision difficult.”
Hippocrates
LifeTime
Art Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · ART
Art Quotes
Read 200 of the best art quotes on creativity, painting, beauty and imagination from Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Rodin and more.
“Art is long, and Time is fleeting.”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
TimeLegacy
“All art is quite useless.”
Oscar Wilde
PurposeWitty
“It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.”
Oscar Wilde
PerceptionAudience
“The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.”
Oscar Wilde
ArtistsBeauty
“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
Oscar Wilde
BooksCriticism
“Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”
Oscar Wilde
LifeImitation
“Art never expresses anything but itself.”
Oscar Wilde
ExpressionMeaning
“All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.”
Walter Pater
MusicBeauty
“To burn always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is success in life.”
Walter Pater
PassionLife
“Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings, and also experience them.”
Leo Tolstoy
DefinitionEmotion
“Painting is poetry which is seen and not heard, and poetry is a painting which is heard but not seen.”
Leonardo da Vinci
PaintingPoetry
“The painter who draws merely by practice and by eye, without any reason, is like a mirror which copies everything placed in front of it without being conscious of their existence.”
Leonardo da Vinci
PaintingUnderstanding
“He is a poor disciple who does not excel his master.”
Leonardo da Vinci
LearningStudents
“The best of artists hath no thought to show which the rough stone in its superfluous shell doth not include.”
Michelangelo
SculptureCreativity
“Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
Michelangelo
DetailPerfection
“To the artist there is never anything ugly in nature.”
Auguste Rodin
NatureBeauty
“The artist is the confidant of nature.”
Auguste Rodin
NatureArtists
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Edgar Degas
PerceptionVision
“It often seems to me that the night is still more richly coloured than the day.”
Vincent van Gogh
ColourNight
“If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
Vincent van Gogh
Self-DoubtCourage
“I think that the best way to know God is to love many things.”
Vincent van Gogh
LoveFaith
“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”
Vincent van Gogh
LoveHumanity
“Nature is usually wrong.”
James McNeill Whistler
NatureWitty
“No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime.”
James McNeill Whistler
ValueExperience
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About Art Quotes
Art is one of the oldest and most human things we do. From cave paintings to cathedrals, from sculpture to poetry, art lets us share feelings, see the world in new ways and leave something behind that outlasts us. Great artists and thinkers have always tried to explain what art is and why it matters.
This collection brings together 200 of the best art quotes from painters, sculptors, poets and philosophers, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Vincent van Gogh, Auguste Rodin, William Blake, Oscar Wilde and Rabindranath Tagore. Whether you are an artist, a student or simply someone who loves beautiful things, these quotes about art will inspire your creativity.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Art quotes.
What is the most famous quote about art?
Oscar Wilde's "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life" is one of the most famous art quotes ever written. Hippocrates' ancient line "Life is short, and Art long" is another classic still quoted by artists today.
What did Vincent van Gogh say about art?
In his letters, Van Gogh encouraged artists to keep painting even when an inner voice says they cannot, promising that the voice will be silenced. He also wrote that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.
What did Leonardo da Vinci say about painting?
Leonardo described painting as poetry that is seen rather than heard, and poetry as painting that is heard rather than seen. He also warned that artists who copy without understanding are like mirrors, reflecting without thinking.
How did Tolstoy define art?
In his book What Is Art?, Leo Tolstoy defined art as a way for one person to pass on feelings they have experienced so that others feel them too. For Tolstoy, art is above all a means of emotional connection between people.
What are good art quotes for students?
William Blake's "Practise is Art. If you leave off, you are Lost" and Joshua Reynolds's "Nothing is denied to well-directed labour" are excellent reminders for art students. Leonardo's line that a good student should surpass their teacher is also inspiring.
Why is art important?
Art helps us express feelings, understand other people and see the world more clearly. As Henry James wrote, it is art that "makes life, makes interest, makes importance."