I have had three masters, Nature, Velasquez, and Rembrandt.
Francisco GoyaRead
Painting, like poetry, selects in the universe whatever she deems most appropriate to her ends. She assembles in a single fantastic personage, circumstances and features which nature distributes among many individuals. From this combination, ingeniously composed, results that happy imitation by virtue of which the artist earns the title of inventor and not of servile copyist.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Art allows creators to select and combine elements from the world to produce something unique and original.
In this quote, Francisco Goya conveys the idea that artists, much like poets, curate and assemble various aspects of the world to create art that is not merely imitative but innovative. This creative process transforms ordinary components into a distinctive vision, allowing the artist to be recognized as an inventor rather than a mere replicator of nature.
Themes
ArtCreativityInnovationImitationNaturePoetry
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of creativity in personal expression.
More from Francisco Goya
All quotes →The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.
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Monsters are the result of the sleep of reason.
Francisco GoyaRead
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