“The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.”

National Music (1934) p. 123.

Book XII: The Book and the Ring, line 842.
The Ring and the Book (1868-69)

As quoted in If Not God, Then What?
Source: If Not God, Then What? (2007) by Joshua Fost, p. 93

As quoted in Man Creates Art Creates Man (1973) by Duane Preble, p. 14
Variant translation: Art is solving problems that cannot be formulated before they have been solved. The shaping of the question is part of the answer.
As quoted in Architecture: form, space, and order (2007) by Francis D.K. Ching, p. ix
Context: After all, what is art? Art is the creative process and it goes through all fields. Einstein’s theory of relativity — now that is a work of art! Einstein was more of an artist in physics than on his violin.
Art is this: art is the solution of a problem which cannot be expressed explicitly until it is solved.

Source: 1916 -1920, Autobiography', 1918, p. 17

This is Your Brain on Music (2006)
Context: When a musical piece is too simple we tend not to like it, finding it trivial. When it is too complex, we tend not to like it, finding it unpredictable—we don't perceive it to be grounded in anything familiar. Music, or any art form... has to strike the right balance between simplicity and complexity...

Letter (1801-01-03) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
Letters