Bram van Velde - People Quotes

10 Sourced Quotes

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Everyone cheats. Only artists don't. They don't fool people and they aren't fooled. They are outside all that. Nobody can understand them.

Bram van Velde
It is true that other people can help you, and to lasting effect... If I hadn't had Beckett in 1940 [in Paris, when Van Velde was strongly demoralized by the death of his wife], I'm not sure I could have stood it. I am really not sure... At that time he [Beckett] he was driven by an extremely aggressive and fiery Irish spirit. That has lessened as time has gone on... I don't know anywhere in modern art any more faithful or more impressive picture of contemporary humanity than the one he offers us in 'The Unamable'.

Bram van Velde
Van Gogh... In this world of petty calculations, he was too intense. He frightened people. They cast him out.

Bram van Velde
To be true, you have to take the plunge, to touch bottom. But most people want to be in control. They fear the worst. You can't control anything. What you have to do is let yourself be taken over... All the paintings I have made, I was compelled to make. You must never force yourself.

Bram van Velde
A painting is not a battle against other people, but against oneself.

Bram van Velde
Artists don't live in the everyday world. That's why people think they're an odd bunch.

Bram van Velde
Most people's lives are governed by willpower. An artist is someone who has no will.

Bram van Velde
The beauty other people create is not for the artists. Artists have to live alone.

Bram van Velde
What makes a painting fascinating is its sincerity. Sincerity is such a rare thing. Most people don't dare to be sincere.

Bram van Velde
I don't like talking. I don't like people talking to me... Painting is silence.

Bram van Velde