Every artist sees with more than their eyes — they see with memory, imagination, longing, and the deeper truths they’ve carried for years. These Art & Artists pages gather those sparks, the moments when someone dared to name the world as they felt it. As Edgar Degas reminds us: “The artist does not draw what he sees, but what he has to make others see.”

For any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience. ~ Rebecca West

I paint what I know not what I see. ~ Pablo Picasso

The artist speaks to our capacity for delight and wonder, to the sense of mystery surrounding our lives, to our sense of pity, and beauty, and pain. ~ Joseph Conrad

I know now that most people are so closely concerned with themselves that they are not aware of their own individuality. I can see myself, and it has helped me to say what I want to say... in paint. ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

I think your life informs your art. ~ Sheryl Crow

The great artists are those who impose their personal vision upon humanity. ~ Guy de Maupassant

Art is a guarantee of sanity. That is the most important thing I have said. ~ Louise Bourgeois

Paintings are too hard. The things I want to show are mechanical. Machines have less problems. I'd like to be a machine, wouldn't you? ~ Andy Warhol

I had rather be called a journalist than an artist. ~ H.G. Wells

In my art I have tried to explain to myself life and its meaning. I have also tried to help others to clarify their lives. ~ Edvard Munch

Art is the only thing you cannot punch a button for. You must do it the old-fashioned way. Stay up and really burn the midnight oil. There are no compromises. ~ Leontyne Price

The practice of art isn't to make a living. It's to make your soul grow. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Art does not reproduce what we see; rather it makes us see. ~ Paul Klee

Art is never finished, only abandoned. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci

What art offers is space — a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~ John Updike