It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism.
Mark RothkoRead
Art to me is an anecdote of the spirit, and the only means of making concrete the purpose of its varied quickness and stillness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art reflects the inner spirit and gives shape to its dynamic and tranquil essence.
Mark Rothko's quote suggests that art serves as a manifestation of the human spirit, capturing both its vibrant energy and its moments of calm. Through artistic expression, individuals can articulate the complexities of their inner emotions and experiences, providing a tangible representation of the intangible qualities of life.
Themes
ArtSpiritExpressionPurposeEmotion
In practice
Example use cases
In an art class, to encourage students to express themselves, a teacher might say this quote.
More from Mark Rothko
All quotes βLook, it's my misery that I have to paint this kind of painting, it's your misery that you have to love it, and the price of the misery is thirteen hundred and fifty dollars.
Mark RothkoRead
We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.
Mark RothkoRead
The artist invites the spectator to take a journey within the realm of the canvas... Without taking the journey, the spectator has really missed the essential experience of the picture.
Mark RothkoRead
The fact that people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions.. the people who weep before my pictures are having the same religious experience I had when painting them. And if you say you are moved only by their color relationships then you miss the point.
Mark RothkoRead
If our titles recall the known myths of antiquity, we have used them again because they are the eternal symbols upon which we must fall back to express basic psychological ideas.
Mark RothkoRead
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This unlikely story begins on a sea that was a blue dream, as colorful as blue-silk stockings, and beneath a sky as blue as the irises of children's eyes.
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Of all man's works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.
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I don't know why so many artists talk about the mainstream's problems from the fringe. I think, unfortunately, it's almost like our education makes us too safe and terrified to step into the world.
Mark BradfordRead
CBS really wants me on TV. That's their aim. My aim is to have an all-gay sitcom someday, with heterosexuals as token guest stars. Let them be the next-door neighbors for a change.
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The most difficult thing for me is a portrait. You have to try and put your camera between the skin of a person and his shirt.
Henri Cartier-BressonRead
Writing is the hardest work in the world. I have been a bricklayer and a truck driver, and I tell you β as if you haven't been told a million times already β that writing is harder. Lonelier. And nobler and more enriching.
Harlan EllisonRead