American Painter Quotes

I wanted to get it all down, maybe out of my system. I wanted to be able to say, Everything's possible-if you believe and can get excited.

A rain-tight roof, frugal living, a box of colors, and God's sunlight through clear windows keep the soul attuned and the body vigorous for one's daily work.

Albert Pinkham Ryder

Just as I came out into the rue, an omnibus came by - pas complet, so I sprang in, without that prayer and fasting which should chasten the mind before risking it in a French omnibus.

I would like to make something that is real in itself that does not remind anyone of any other things, and that does not have to be explained like the letter A, for instance.

When you feel colors, you will understand the why of their forms.

Oscar Florianus Bluemner

The ideal artist is he who knows everything, feels everything, experiences everything, and retains his experience in a spirit of wonder and feeds upon it with creative lust.

The most interesting part of my life is of no concern to the public.

I do not always find the streets interesting, so I wait until I see picturesque groups and those that compose well in relation to the whole.

Attempt what is not certain. Certainty may or may not come later. It may then be a valuable delusion.

Richard Diebenkorn

I was extremely timid and to be made to feel that I was not wanted, although in a place where I had every right to be, even months afterwards caused me sometimes weeks of pain. Every time any one of these disagreeable incidents came into my mind, my heart sank, and I was anew tortured by the thought of what I had endured, almost as much as the incident itself.

Henry Ossawa Tanner

The greatness of art is not in the display of knowledge, or in material accuracy, but in the distinctness with which it conveys the impressions of a personal vital force, that acts spontaneously, without fear or hesitation.

What a business is this of a portrait painter! You bring him a potato and expect he will paint you a peach.

Clio may be the most austere and chaste of the Muses, but she has been known to come down informally from Mount Helicon in a mood so raffish that there are those who claim to have seen her with her slip showing.

Thornton Willis

There are as many reasons why and ways to fish as there are people who do it.

Russell Chatham

The warm green of the grass, sprinkled with flowers of many hues, is a carpet whereon we walk with noiseless tread.

All the best artists have shown that the greatest achievement in the production of fine color is the concealment of pigments, and not the parade of them; and we may say the same of execution.

Asher Brown Durand

You can write a letter with a typewriter, a pencil, or a crayon. What you have to say is the important thing.

Theirs is a story of African-American strength and courage. I share it now as my parents told it to me, because their struggles and triumphs ring true today. People all over the world are still on the move, trying to build better lives for themselves and for their families.

Paint is the only weapon I have with which to fight what I resent. If I could write, I would write about it. If I could talk, I would talk about it. Since I paint, I must paint about it.

Charles Wilbert White

The Plover and the Clover can be told apart with ease, By paying close attention to the habit of the Bees, For Entomologists aver, the Bee can be in Clover, While Etymologists concur, there is no B in Plover.

Robert William Wood

If you should desire some news of me, Go ask the little horned toad whose home is in the dust.