“I paint what I see in America, in other words I paint the American scene.”
Stuart Davis (1892–1964) American painter
Cited in: Ian Chilvers, "Davis, Stuart," in: The Oxford Dictionary of Art, (2994). p. 195
“Sometimes I see it and then paint it. Other times I paint it and then see it. Both are impure situations, and I prefer neither. At every point in nature there is something to see. My work contains similar possibilities for the changing focus of the eye.”
Sixteen Americans, (1959) Dorothy C. Miller, Moma, New York, p. 22
1950s
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Jasper Johns34
American artist 1930Related quotes
Arshile Gorky (1904–1948) Armenian-American painter
quote of 1948
1942 - 1948
Source: Movements in art since 1945, Edward Lucie-Smith, Thames and Hudson 1975, p 32
Yves Klein (1928–1962) French artist
Source: before 1960, "Yves Klein, 1928 – 1962, Selected Writings", p. 15
“My business is to paint what I see, not what I know is there.”
J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) British Romantic landscape painter, water-colourist, and printmaker
Turner, quoted in: Donald B. MacCulloch (1927) The Wondrous Isle of Staffa, p. 160
Alternative quote:
My job is to paint what I see, not what I know
As quoted in: George Seferis (1999) A Poet's Journal: Days of 1945-1951. p. 105
undated quotes
Garth Brooks (1962) American country music artist
In Another's Eyes, written by Bobby Wood, John Peppard, and G. Brooks, duet with Trisha Yearwood.
Song lyrics, Sevens (1997)
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880–1938) German painter, sculptor, engraver and printmaker
In a letter, 1923; as quoted in Expressionism, de:Wolf-Dieter Dube; Praeger Publishers, New York, 1973, p. 52
1920's
Bob Ross (1942–1995) American painter, art instructor, and television host
Judi Hunt (November 23, 1991) "Disciples of The Bob Ross Technique Find Joy in Learning They Can Paint", The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. C1.
David Hockney (1937) British artist
Interview with Nigel Farndale, "The talented Mr. Hockney," The Telegraph, (15 November 2001)
2000s
“Do not say, "Draw the curtain that I may see the painting." The curtain is the painting.”
Nikos Kazantzakis book The Saviors of God
The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: "I do not know whether behind appearances there lives and moves a secret essence superior to me. Nor do I ask; I do not care. I create phenomena in swarms, and paint with a full palette a gigantic and gaudy curtain before the abyss. Do not say, "Draw the curtain that I may see the painting." The curtain is the painting.
Franz Kline (1910–1962) American painter
1958
1960's, Talks with Seventeen Artists, 1962