Art quotes

179 items found

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Ian Burn began investigating the act of looking in the mid 1960s. In this work, text across a standard framed mirror quotes from the 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume. The original quote continues, ‘if we consider these objects in themselves, and never look beyond the ideas which we form of them’.

The viewer is asked to consider this specific work of art without considering his or her accumulated knowledge and assumptions about either ‘mirrors’ or ‘works of art’ (or the person ‘in’ the mirror). The impossibility of isolating any one thing from all others is emphasised in this conceptual artwork by our reflection in the mirror and that of the space in which it hangs and other art nearby.

Ian Burn
Two glass/Mirror piece
1968
mirror, glass, wood
93.7 × 63.2 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

735270892172673026

“I have found that in accepting and immersing myself in subject matter I paint with more intensity and that the ‘hows’ of painting are more inevitably determined by the ‘whats’.” — David Park

David Park (1911-1960)
Two People in White
1957
oil on canvas
24 x 32 in.
Price realised
USD 378,000

735240870789529600

“Best way to live in California is to be from somewheres else.” — Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

NFT Photography Series: California 04

Location: California
Date: 5/15/2010
Camera: Leica D-LUX 3
Edition 1/10

Both physical and NFT items are now available in our store.

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“There’s conflict in the world and conflict within ourselves.” — Ming Smith

Ming Smith
Sun Ra Space II, New York
1978
printed 2017
Gelatin silver print
40.6 × 50.8 cm

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“Why do people think artists are special? It’s just another job.”— Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol (1928-1987)
Colored Mona Lisa
1963
silkscreen inks and graphite on canvas
125 7/8 x 82 1/8 in.
Price realised 
USD 56,165,000

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“My God! The grass is perfect! It’s green! The sun is out, there’s some clouds.” — Charles O’Rear

Windows XP Background, Bliss. Photo by Charles O’Rear. Used with permission from Microsoft.

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Michelangelo’s “secret room”

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“On my first trip to Iraq, I would take tons of pictures to keep up the morale and to send back to friends and family. I had everything backed up to a hard drive and I lost (crashed) that hard drive, which was very hurtful because I had pictures of family members that are deceased. I realized the only thing I could do was document life in the present.” — Michael McCoy

Photography by Michael McCoy

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“Art for the most part, is about concentration, solitude and determination. It’s really not about other people’s needs and assumptions. I’m not interested in the notion that art serves something. Art is useless, not useful.” — Richard Serra

Richard Serra
TTI London
2007
two torqued tori of weatherproof steel
each 14 x 35″
installation view

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Was modern art a weapon of the CIA?

There are conspiracy theories suggesting the CIA supported abstract expressionism during the Cold War to showcase artistic freedom in contrast to Soviet realism. While there’s some historical connection, the idea that modern art was a “weapon” is debated among scholars, and evidence supporting a deliberate strategy is limited.

By ChatGPT

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“What is truth? Truth doesn’t really exist. Who is going to judge whether my experience of an incident is more valid than yours? No one can be trusted to be the judge of that.” — Tracey Emin

Tracey Emin
Sad Shower in New York
1995
Monoprint on paper
420 × 593 mm
Tate Collections

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“What do you think an artist is? …he is a political being, constantly aware of the heart breaking, passionate, or delightful things that happen in the world, shaping himself completely in their image. Painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war.” — Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Femme à la montre
1932
oil on canvas
51 ⅛ by 38 ⅛ in.
Sold: $139.4 million

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“I have my pace and way of living, and I’m not looking for something.” — Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly
Untitled
1970
oil based house paint and wax crayon on canvas
61 ¼ x 74 ¾ in.
Price realised
USD 69,605,000

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“I believe that who we are, and consequently the work that we make, whether we’re visual artists or writers or journalists or filmmakers, is a projection of where we were born, what’s been withheld or lavished upon us, our color, our sex, our class. And everything we do in life to some degree is a reflection of that context.” — Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger
Untitled (How come only the unborn have the right to life?)
1986
photograph and type on paper.