75 Art Quotes That Speak to the Soul and Inspire Creativity!
Art is a way of expressing ourselves in a way that knows no boundaries. Even so, there are times when we can reach a block in our creativity that leaves us at a loss. Some big creativity blockers are when we try to produce for someone else or strive too much for perfection. Doubts start to come up that kill our creative expression. When this happens, it is always good to reach for a little inspiration that can free the mind. These 75 art quotes will do just that. Written primarily by artists, they have a true understanding of how art is made and know how to inspire others.
These quotes about art really help to define art and put into perspective the creative process. So the next time you feel caught up in the perceived rules of art, read through these quotes that speak to the freedom and feeling that goes into any great artwork.
Here are the best art quotes to help you to let yourself go and embrace this creative outlet!
Best Art Quotes
1. “I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no words for.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
2. “Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso
3. “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.” – Bob Ross
4. “If you hear a voice within you say, ‘You cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced” – Vincent Van Gogh
5. “Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen.” – Leonardo da Vinci
6. “Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso
7. “Every artist was first an amateur.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." – Thomas Merton
9. "The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before." – Neil Gaiman
10. “A work of art which isn’t based on feeling isn’t art at all.” – Paul Cézanne
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11. “Everybody born comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory. We come from the Creator with creativity. I think that each one of us is born with creativity.” – Maya Angelou
12. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw
13. "The world is but a canvas to our imagination." – Henry David Thoreau
14. “It is wise to learn; it is God-like to create.” – John Saxe
15. “Art is the stored honey of the human soul.” – Theodore Dreiser
16. "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." – Scott Adams
17. "All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up." – James Baldwin
18. "Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better." – Andre Gide
19. "If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint." – Edward Hopper
20. “Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.” – Edgar Degas
21. “The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.” – Neil Gaiman
22. "Art deteriorates when it is done for the audience." – James Pierce
23. “The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.” – Francis Bacon
24. “In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
25. "Art is the expression of the profoundest thoughts in the simplest way." – Albert Einstein
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Inspirational Quotes on Art
26. "If art is to nourish the roots of our culture, society must set the artist free to follow his vision wherever it takes him." – John F. Kennedy
27. “Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
28. "Art is not a mirror to hold up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it." – Leon Trotsky
29. “What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” – Eugene Delacroix
30. "Art is an international language, understood by all." – Igor Babailov
31. "Art is an experience, not the formulation of a problem." – Lindsay Anderson
32. “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” – Marc Chagall
33. "Art is both creation and recreation." – Lin Yutang
34. "Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings." – Agnes Martin
35. “If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo
36. “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye, it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.” – Edvard Munch
37. "If I close my eyes, I see things better than with my eyes open." – Henri Matisse
38. "Art is man’s nature; nature is God’s art." – Philip James Bailey
39. "A work of art is the unique result of a unique temperament. Its beauty comes from the fact that the author is what he is. It has nothing to to do with the fact that other people want what they want. Indeed, the moment that an artist takes notice of what other people want, and tries to supply the demand, he ceases to be an artist, and becomes a dull or an amusing craftsman, an honest or a dishonest tradesman." – Oscar Wilde
40. “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” – Twyla Tharp
42. “The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle
43. "A work is finished when an artist realizes his intentions." – Rembrandt
44. "Art is the response of the living to life. It is therefore the record left behind by civilization." – John Sloan
45. "Art is our memory of love. The most an artist can do through their work is say, let me show you what I have seen, what I have loved, and perhaps you will see it and love it too." – Annie Bevan
46. “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” – Stella Adler
47. “Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.” – Pablo Picasso
48. "Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further." – Keith Haring
49. "What keeps my heart awake is colorful silence." – Claude Monet
50. "Art is a harmony parallel with nature." – Paul Cezanne
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Art Quotes on Creativity
51. "Art is a necessity – an essential part of our enlightenment process. We cannot, as a civilized society, regard ourselves as being enlightened without the arts." – Ken Danby
52. "Art is the work of a person, a human being, who is free to take into himself what he sees outside and from his free center put his human stamp on it." – Sister Corita
53. “The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.” – Paul Strand
54. “If a man devotes himself to art, much evil is avoided that happens otherwise if one is idle.” – Albrecht Dürer
55. "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." – Michelangelo
56. "It’s so fine and yet so terrible to stand in front of a blank canvas." – Paul Cezanne
57. "Art is not the possession of the few who are recognized writers, painters, musicians; it is the authentic expression of any and all individuality." – John Dewey
58. "Art is the one thing that speaks to everyone. Art transcends time and ties us all together as the human race." – David Dory
59. “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” – Pablo Picasso
60. “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Andy Warhol
61. "The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable." – Robert Henri
62. "A true artist is not one who is inspired but one who inspires others." – Salvador Dali
63. "If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud." – Emile Zola
64. "Art is the escape from personality." – T. S. Eliot
65. "Art is real and imaginary, two worlds rolled into one – the fulfillment of the artist’s insatiable soul." – Edward J. Fraughton
66. “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
67. “I invent nothing, I rediscover.” – Auguste Rodin
68. “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” – Henry Ward Beecher
69. “The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense.” – Pablo Picasso
70. "An artist discovers his genius the day he dares not to please." – Andre Malraux
71. "The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist." – Eric Gill
72. "An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way." – Charles Bukowski
73. "Art is the elimination of the unnecessary." – Pablo Picasso
74. "Art is the glorification of the human spirit, and as such it is the cultural documentation of the time in which it is produced." – Hans Hofmann
75. "The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them." – Hans Hofmann
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