QuoteProject
This is the theory… that anything that is art… is presumably about some certain thing, but is really always about something else, and it’s no good having one without the other, because if you just have the something it is boring and if you just have the something else it’s irritating.
Edward Gorey
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Art captures deeper meanings beyond its apparent subject matter.

This quote by Edward Gorey suggests that true art transcends its surface-level subjects, often encapsulating deeper themes or emotions. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of the explicit content and the implicit messages within art, arguing that both elements are necessary for a fulfilling artistic experience; without one, the other becomes either superficial or frustrating.

Themes

ArtMeaningExpressionDepthEmotionCreativity

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about modern art, this quote can highlight the complexities of interpretation.

More from Edward Gorey

I just kind of conjured them up out of my subconscious and put them in order of ascending peculiarity.
Edward GoreyRead
If something doesn't creep into a drawing that you're not prepared for, you might as well not have drawn it.
Edward GoreyRead
I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist...I am a person who does those things.
Edward GoreyRead

Similar quotes

Not surprisingly, he began to sing, and because no one in the world could hear him, and he sang without inhibition, he sang well.
Mark HelprinRead
People call me the painter of dancing girls. It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.
Edgar DegasRead
I don't care who likes it or buys it. Because if you use that criterion, Mozart would never have written Don Giovanni, Charlie Parker would have never played anything but swing music.
Charlie ParkerRead
My most persistent memory of stand - up is of my mouth being in the present and my mind being in the future: the mouth speaking the line, the body delivering the gesture, while the mind looks back, observing, analyzing, judging, worrying, and then deciding when and what to say next. Enjoyment while performing was rare - enjoyment would have been an indulgent loss of focus that comedy cannot afford.
Steve MartinRead
If someone asked, 'What are your films like?,' the best I can come up with is that they're, like, a fine balance between comedy and drama. And they deal mainly with the clumsiness of humanity.
Taika WaititiRead
There is music wherever there is rhythm, as there is life wherever there beats a pulse.
Igor StravinskyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.