Source: As quoted in Conversations with George Moore (1929) by Geraint Goodwin, p. 123
“No artist is ahead of his time. He is the time. It is just that others are behind the time.”
As quoted in Gramophone (1962), Vol. 40, Part 2, p. 389
Context: Contrary to general belief, an artist is never ahead of his time but most people are far behind theirs. I was the first composer to explore, so to speak, musical outer space.
“Behind of a great queen is always a great king.”
Original: (pt) Por trás de uma grande rainha está sempre um grande rei.
Source: "A Alma e a Gente - D. Maria II, A Rainha da Regeneração"
“I always suspect an artist who is successful before he is dead.”
John Murray Gibbon, Pagan Love (1922), ch. xiv
Misattributed
“A burglar who respects his art always takes his time before taking anything else.”
“Makes the Whole World Kin,” Sixes and Sevens (1911)
“The Artist always has the masters in his eyes.”
Attributed to Rodin in: Southwestern Art Vol. 6 (1977). p. 20; Partly cited in: A Toolbox for Humanity: More Than 9000 Years of Thought (2004) by Lloyd Albert Johnson, p. 7
1950s-1990s
Context: The artist must learn the difference between the appearance of an object and the interpretation of this object through his medium. The artist must create a spark before he can make a fire and before art is born, the artist must be ready to be consumed by the fire of his own creation.
Attributed to Rodin in: Southwestern Art Vol. 6 (1977). p. 20; Partly cited in: A Toolbox for Humanity: More Than 9000 Years of Thought (2004) by Lloyd Albert Johnson, p. 7
1930s and later
