Pablo Picasso (1949) by Gjon MiliLIFE Photo Collection
Looking at a beautiful painting, or staring up at a huge, awe-inspiring sculpture, we’re often left struggling for words. These personal and emotional experiences are hard to express in language. But many people, both artists and non-artists, have managed to put words together that seem to capture this amazing, inexpressible feeling.
Here are 13 beautiful, inspirational and moving quotes that will make you fall in love with art all over again, from Picasso to Pollock.
Albion Rose (1794-1796) by William BlakeBritish Museum
2. “A picture is a poem without words.” – Horace
The Balcony Room (1845) by Adolph MenzelAlte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
3. “The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.” – Jawaharlal Nehru
Purple Hills Ghost Ranch - 2 / Purple Hills No II (1934) by Georgia O'KeeffeGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum
4. “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
Nu descendant un escalier - Marcel Duchamp, 1912 (conservé au Philadelphia Museum of Art) by Marcel DuchampThe Cinémathèque française
5. “What art is, in reality, is this missing link, not the links which exist. It's not what you see that is art; art is the gap.” – Marcel Duchamp
Trees in Autumn (1920-1921) by Georgia O'KeeffeGeorgia O'Keeffe Museum
6. “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” – Henry Ward Beecher
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8. “The work of art is a scream of freedom.” – Christo
The Ballet Class (1871 - 1874) by Edgar DegasMusée d’Orsay, Paris
9. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
The Reading Room (1843) by Johann Peter HasencleverAlte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
10. “Art, freedom and creativity will change society faster than politics.” – Victor Pinchuk
Por Vinci Leonardo DaLIFE Photo Collection
11. “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Jackson Pollock (1949-04) by Martha HolmesLIFE Photo Collection
12. “Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” – Jackson Pollock
13. “Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.” – Dorothea Lange
Explore more:
- 8 Albert Einstein Quotes
