The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should also refrain from painting what he sees before him. Otherwise his pictures will be like those folding screens behind which one expects to find only the sick or the dead.


As quoted in: "The Awe-Struck Witness" in TIME magazine (28 October 1974) and in "On the Brink : The Artist and the Seas" by Eldon N. Van Liere in Poetics of the Elements in the Human Condition: The Sea (1985) edited by Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka

Internet Archive Art: The Awe-Struck Witness

Caspar David Friedrich Quotes

The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should...

The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should...

The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should...

The artist should not only paint what he sees before him, but also what he sees in himself. If, however, he sees nothing within him, then he should...