Richard Avedon Quotes

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.

I'd like people to remember me for a diligent expert workman. I think a poet is a workman. I think Shakespeare was a workman. And God's a workman. I don't think there's anything better than a workman.

I believe the target of anything in life should be to do it so well that it becomes an art.

There's nothing more special than intellect and labour that makes painting work. There's no magic there; it's information, and it's work.

That talk of inspiration is sheer nonsense; there is no such thing. It is a mere matter of craftsmanship.

Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

You don't know how much artists go through to make it look so easy. It's all in the practice.

Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.

That is the way a great master carpenter feels, or an architect or composer or anyone who creates anything - people want to be appreciated for what they have done.

There is nothing quite as exciting as watching a master at work.

You've got to perfect your craft.

There is the same difference between talent and genius that there is between a stone mason and a sculptor

Art is anything you can do well. Anything you can do with quality.

Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.

The higher the artist, the fewer the gestures. The fewer the tools, the greater the imagination. The greater the will, the greater the secret failure.

What distinguishes a great artist from a weak one is first their sensibility and tenderness; second, their imagination, and third, their industry.

Art is not in some far-off place. A work of art is the expression of a man's whole personality, sensibility and ability.

Art depends on luck and talent.

Part of my work is dedicated to artisanship and can only be done by very few people because it requires a specific technique. Being an artist is being at the service of yourself; I am at the service of other people.

Nature is the master of talents; genius is the master of nature.

I really believe in myself. I'm the hardest worker I know, and one of the best songwriters. There's a craft to it, and it takes a long time to hone it, and I work really hard at it.

Art is man's expression of his joy in labor.

My mom is a sculptress.

When you are an artist, you want your audience to think it's effortless and easy.

The beauty of a finely worked object points to the beauty of the craftsmanship. The beauty of the craftsmanship points to the beauty of the name which was the source of the craftsmanship. The beauty of the name of the craftsman's art points to the beauty of the craftsman's attributes manifested in that art.