What They Said

Sometimes a quotation from another artist has resonance for me. Here a some great quotes from a few of the masters and a painting by each.

John Sargent:

John Sargent, "Dr. Fitzwilliam Sargent," oil on canvas 1886

"A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth."
"Make the best of an emergency." (speaking about watercolor)
"The thicker you paint the more it flows."
"Mine is the horny hand of toil."

Edward Hopper, "Early Sunday Morning," oil, 1930

 Edward Hopper:
"If you could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."
"All I really want to do is paint light on the side of a house."
"It's probably a reflection of my own, if I may say, loneliness. I don't know. It could be the whole human condition."

Andrew Wyeth, "The Crossing," tempera, 2002

Andrew Wyeth:
"I'm much more interested in the mood of a thing than in the truth of a thing."
"When you lose your simplicity you lose your drama."
"It's a moment that I'm after, a fleeting moment, but not a frozen moment."