Robert Pinsky Quotes

How does an artist know when the line that he just painted is good or not good? That's the catch. De Kooning was the greatest of my contemporaries in art, and he knew when he'd done a good line. When he didn't, he threw it away. I wish I'd thrown away some of mine.

If it's good art, it's good.

I don't think there's any formula for what makes great art.

To give a body and a perfect form to one's thought, this - and only this - is to be an artist.

As a composer and as a musician I'm a true believer - and this is not to be overly diplomatic - I'm a believer that there's artistry in everything from a lawn gnome to a desk chair to a symphony to an Andy Warhol painting. There's art in absolutely everything.

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.

You see, my ambition was not to confound the engineering world but simply to create a beautiful piece of art.

There's no making art for art's sake. You've got to make the best art you can.

All bad art is the result of good intentions.

No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.

Great art is an instant arrested in eternity.

There is nothing new in art except talent.

Art is good, bad, boring, ugly, useful to us or not.

What distinguishes modern art from the art of other ages is criticism.

It is not your paintings I like, it is your painting.

I never regarded my pictures as very much to be proud of, except in this, the craft, the style.

We're all going about trying to make beauty in the world and trying to make order out of chaos. And that's what art is.

To paint well, I need to be enraptured by my subjects.

It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism.

This is the merit and distinction of art: to be more real than reality, to be not nature but nature's essence.

I'd like to write the way Matisse paints.

Art is difficult. It's not always going to please everyone; it's not always going to work the way you want it to work.

A great painter can paint something really complex, but they can crystallize it into something really simple.

I have a fondness for making paintings that go beyond just having a conversation about art for art's sake or having a conversation about art history. I actually really enjoy looking at broader popular culture.

An artist is usually responsible only for the creation of a particular art. It's up to the critics to label it.