Art Quotes

Beauty, expression, and the human need to create. Artists and thinkers on why art matters.

21093 quotes

P
"The cultivation of taste in art and literature refines the soul and elevates human experience."
Pico della Mirandola
G
"Art imitates nature not to deceive, but to reveal her deeper harmonies."
Giambattista della Porta
G
"To master any art, one must first understand the principles that underlie it."
Giambattista della Porta
G
"Art and science are not opposites; they are lovers dancing to the same eternal music."
Giambattista della Porta
E
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
Edward Wotton
E
"Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth."
Edward Wotton
N
"Art is the expression of the soul's deepest truths."
Nicodemus Copernicus
N
"Art transcends the barriers between men."
Nicodemus Copernicus
G
"Art should inspire the soul toward the divine."
Girolamo Savonarola
"Art imitates the processes of nature."
Giambattista Vico
A
"The artist and the magus are one—both seek to reveal hidden truths through their work."
Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius
C
"Art must be experienced as an act of liberation."
Cosimo de Medici
C
"Art is the right hand of Nature."
Cosimo de Medici
"The human form reveals the secrets of creation."
Andreas Vesalius
"The human body is a work of art and science combined."
Andreas Vesalius
"The human form is the subject most worthy of an artist's study."
Andreas Vesalius
"The study of the human form elevates the human spirit."
Andreas Vesalius
P
"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician."
Paracelsus
P
"The greatest art is the art of living well."
Paracelsus
P
"The highest point of technique is to have no technique."
Paracelsus
E
"The greatest art reveals the deepest truths of the human condition."
Edward Wotton
E
"Art challenges us to see what we have learned not to see."
Edward Wotton
C
"The city that forgets its artists forgets its soul."
Cosimo de Medici
G
"The art that serves only pleasure has forgotten its purpose."
Girolamo Savonarola
A
"Every symbol carries layers of meaning waiting to be discovered."
Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius
N
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science."
Nicodemus Copernicus
N
"The true artist is very much in love with his subject matter."
Nicodemus Copernicus
"Each muscle tells a story of purpose and design."
Andreas Vesalius
"The anatomist stands at the intersection of art and science."
Andreas Vesalius
"In the structure of bone and blood, we read the poetry of existence."
Andreas Vesalius