1,307 Quotes About Artists

Great art is the outward expression of an inner life in the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world.

More of me comes out when I improvise.

Women have sat indoors all these millions of years, so that by this time the very walls are permeated by their creative force, which has, indeed, so overcharged the capacity of bricks and mortar that it must needs harness itself to pens and brushes and business and politics.

The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.

Creativity and the creative process is a remarkably fascinating thing. It has its own energy and presents and expresses itself uniquely to / through each artist. You’ve just got to trust it, honour it, nourish it, follow it and run with it.

From recovery to rags and rags to recovery symbolizes art - a perfect compilation of human imperfections.

Be braver. Be more honest. Don’t hold onto what you knew in the past. Artists are meant to express what other people cannot. That is why an artist, of any type, is given a privileged position in society. They are meant to inspire and we are very reliant on inspiration to help us in our lives. You cannot inspire if you are not honest. What is honest for you now will take more courage to carry and hold than it did in the past.

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Aren't artists supposed to thrive on the creative struggle, battling the world and expressing it through their masterpieces?