“The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.”
Leonardo da Vinci
PaintingImagination
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.
“Painting embraces all the ten functions of the eye; that is to say, darkness, light, body and colour, shape and location, distance and closeness, motion and rest.”
Leonardo da Vinci
PaintingObservation
“Shadow is the obstruction of light.”
Leonardo da Vinci
LightShadow
“The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the works of others as his standard.”
Leonardo da Vinci
OriginalityPainting
“Genius is eternal patience.”
Michelangelo
GeniusPatience
“The might of one fair face sublimes my love.”
Michelangelo
BeautyLove
“Art is firmly ensconced in nature, and he who can extract it from there has it.”
Albrecht Dürer
NatureObservation
“The beginning is perhaps more difficult than anything else, but keep heart, it will turn out all right.”
Vincent van Gogh
BeginningsEncouragement
“Love many things, for therein lies the true strength.”
Vincent van Gogh
LoveStrength
“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.”
Vincent van Gogh
CourageRisk
“Be clearly aware of the stars and infinity on high. Then life seems almost enchanted after all.”
Vincent van Gogh
WonderStars
“Art demands persistent work, work in spite of everything, and continuous observation.”
Vincent van Gogh
Hard WorkObservation
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.”
Auguste Rodin
EmotionLife
“Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature.”
Auguste Rodin
ContemplationNature
“I invent nothing, I rediscover.”
Auguste Rodin
CreativityDiscovery
“Art should be independent of all clap-trap - should stand alone, and appeal to the artistic sense of eye or ear.”
James McNeill Whistler
Art For Art's SakeIndependence
“To say to the painter, that Nature is to be taken as she is, is to say to the player, that he may sit on the piano.”
James McNeill Whistler
NatureWitty
“I should paint my own places best.”
John Constable
HomePainting
“Painting is a science, and should be pursued as an inquiry into the laws of nature.”
John Constable
SciencePainting
“A mere copier of nature can never produce anything great.”
Joshua Reynolds
OriginalityNature
“To Generalize is to be an Idiot. To Particularize is the Alone Distinction of Merit.”
William Blake
DetailWisdom
“The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.”
William Blake
Open MindGrowth
“The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what it saw in a plain way.”
John Ruskin
ObservationExpression
“To see clearly is poetry, prophecy, and religion - all in one.”
John Ruskin
VisionPoetry
“Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious.”
Oscar Wilde
ArtistsWitty