The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things,
but their inward significance. 
Aristotle

I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. 
Pablo Picasso

There is something in painting which cannot be explained,
and that something is essential. 
Pierre Renoir

Abstraction allows man to see with his mind
what he cannot see physically with his eyes.
Arshile Gorky

If I create from the heart, nearly everything works;
if from the head, almost nothing. 
Marc Chagall

No great artist ever sees things as they really are.
If he did, he would cease to be an artist. 
Oscar Wilde

If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint. 
Edward Hopper

As far as I am concerned, a painting speaks for itself.
What is the use of giving explanations when all is said and done?  
Pablo Picasso

The position of the artist is humble.
He is essentially a channel. 
Piet Mondrian

Abstract art enables the artist to perceive beyond the tangible,
​to extract the infinite out of the finite.
It is the emancipator of the mind.
It is an exploration into unknown areas. 
Arshile Gorky

Thinking is more interesting than knowing,
but less interesting than looking. 
Goethe

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'Keefe

Don’t think about making art, just get it done. 
Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. 
While they are deciding, make even more art.
Andy Warhol

The only time I feel alive is when I'm painting. 
Vincent Van Gogh

​We artists are driven towards personal lives
nourished in these strange techniques of self-pursuit.
Lawrence Durrell (from Clea)

If man is satisfied only with what he sees physically
​and cannot imagine creatively,
he will stagnate.
Arshile Gorky