QuoteProject
What concerns me when I work, is not whether the picture is a landscape, or whether it's pastoral, or whether somebody will see a sunset in it. What concerns me is - did I make a beautiful picture?
Helen Frankenthaler
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of beauty in art rather than its categorization or subject matter.

Helen Frankenthaler's quote reflects the essence of artistic creation, focusing on the pursuit of beauty rather than the conventional classifications of art such as landscapes or pastoral scenes. It suggests that the true value of a piece lies in its aesthetic appeal and the emotional response it evokes, rather than how it is categorized or perceived by others.

Themes

ArtBeautyCreationExpressionAesthetic

In practice

Example use cases

In an art class, to inspire students to focus on the beauty of their own creations.

More from Helen Frankenthaler

Every canvas is a journey all its own.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
There are many accidents that are nothing but accidents-and forget it. But there are some that were brought about only because you are the person you are... you have the wherewithal, intelligence, and energy to recognize it and do something with it.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
I don't start with a color order, but find the colors as I go.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
We would sift through every inch of what it was that worked, or if it didn't, and wonder what was effective in it, in terms of paint, the subject matter, the size, the drawing.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
Art has a will of its own. It has nothing to do with the taste of the moment or what's expected of you. That's a formula for dead art, or fashionable art.
Helen FrankenthalerRead
I don't resent being a female painter. I don't exploit it. I paint.
Helen FrankenthalerRead

Similar quotes

What I try to do is defy expectations in terms of boundaries, whether it is high or low art, pop culture, or fine-art culture. My work is about reconciling myriad cultural influences and bringing them into one picture.
Kehinde WileyRead
Can a film really change anything? I mean, what was the last time? Maybe the Italian neo-realists, where they became the voice and the heart and the soul of Italy, a nation that had been destroyed. I don't know.
Martin ScorseseRead
Of course, music is an art form, and it's not all that competitive. But we don't ever intend to be the second-best band on a stage at any show.
Tom MorelloRead
Abstract is not a style. I simply want to make a surface work. This is just a use of space and form: it's an ambivalence of forms and space.
Joan MitchellRead
My films are never about what Hong Kong is like, or anything approaching a realistic portrait, but what I think about Hong Kong and what I want it to be.
Wong Kar-WaiRead
You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what's in your heart.
Carol Ann DuffyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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