Ananda Coomaraswamy - Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art (1943)

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The vocation, whether it be that of the farmer or the architect, is a function; the exercise of this function as regards the man himself is the most indispensable means of spiritual development, and as regards his relation to society the measure of his worth.

Ananda Coomaraswamy

We have come to think of art and work as incompatible, or at least independent categories and have for the first time in history created an industry without art.

Ananda Coomaraswamy

It is the natural instinct of a child to work from within outwards; "First I think, and then I draw my think." What wasted efforts we make to teach the child to stop thinking, and only to observe!

Ananda Coomaraswamy

Art is nothing tangible. We cannot call a painting 'art' as the words 'artifact' and 'artificial' imply. The thing made is a work of art made by art, but not itself art. The art remains in the artist and is the knowledge by which things are made.

Ananda Coomaraswamy

It is only when the maker of things is a maker of things by vocation, and not merely holding down a job, that the price of things is approximate to their real value....

Ananda Coomaraswamy