John Ruskin - Art Quotes

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The entire vitality of art depends upon its being either full of truth, or full of use; and that, however pleasant, wonderful, or impressive it may be in itself, it must yet be of inferior kind, and tend to deeper inferiority, unless it has clearly one of these main objects, — either to state a true thing, or to adorn a serviceable one.

John Ruskin
High art consists neither in altering, nor in improving nature; but in seeking throughout nature for 'whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are pure;' in loving these, in displaying to the utmost of the painter's power such loveliness as is in them, and directing the thoughts of others to them by winning art, or gentle emphasis.

John Ruskin
It is in this power of saying everything, and yet saying nothing too plainly, that the perfection of art consists.

John Ruskin
Nature is always mysterious and secret in her use of means; and art is always likest her when it is most inexplicable.

John Ruskin
All that is good in art is the expression of one soul talking to another, and is precious according to the greatness of the soul that utters it.

John Ruskin
All great art is the expression of man's delight in God's work, not his own.

John Ruskin
Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.

John Ruskin
Greater completion marks the progress of art, absolute completion usually its decline.

John Ruskin
All that we call ideal in Greek or any other art, because to us it is false and visionary, was, to the makers of it, true and existent.

John Ruskin
.. the art of becoming 'rich', in the common sense, is not absolutely nor finally the art of accumulating much money for ourselves, but also of contriving that our neighbour shall have less. In accurate terms, it is 'the art of establishing the maximum inequality in your own favour'.

John Ruskin