Art Quotes

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so. For, those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow. Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.”

-- John Donne

“Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.”

-- Ben Okri

“Many say an art dealer running a museum is a 'conflict of interest.' But maybe the art world has lived an artificial or unintentional lie all of these years when it comes to conflicts of interest.”

-- Jerry Saltz

“Summer is a great time to visit art museums, which offer the refreshing rinse of swimming pools - only instead of cool water, you immerse yourself in art.”

-- Jerry Saltz

“Time extracts various values from a painter's work. When these values are exhausted the pictures are forgotten, and the more a picture has to give, the greater it is.”

-- Henri Matisse

“I have no fear of making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own.”

-- Jackson Pollock

“Life is painting a picture, not doing a sum.”

-- Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Art is something to be proud of. Art is no compromise.”

-- Christian Bale

“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”

-- Pablo Picasso

“Dying is an art, like everything else. I do it exceptionally well. I do it so it feels like hell. I do it so it feels real. I guess you could say I've a call.”

-- Sylvia Plath