There is something mystical about the connection between art and life. Is life a reflection of art? Or was Oscar Wilde correct when he said that “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life." Is art like life? Or is life like art? Each person views life and consequently art differently. Each person has a different take on art and life as reflected in the quotes below. When making the journey into art, it can be beneficial to reflect on art and what it means to you, personally. Sometimes reading quotes from others will help you clarify your own perspective.
Esther Ritz, Creator of Dallas Contemporary Artwork, Shares Her Views on Two Art/Life Quotes
Two famous comments about art and life are:
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.” - Danny Kaye
“Art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it.” - Vladimir Mayakovsky
“I love the quote by Danny Kaye (one of my favorite comedians)-because it reflects on the way I paint. The second one is a little too controlling for my tastes.” -Esther Ritz, painter of Dallas Contemporary Artwork.
Quotes about Art and Life
As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life. -John Lubbock
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. -Stella Adler
In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves. - Bulwer-Lytton
I do not want life to imitate art. I want life to be art. - Carrie Fisher
Art is long, life is short. -Hippocrates
"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life." - M. C. Richards
Life is very nice, but it lacks form. It's the aim of art to give it some. -Jean Anouilh
What began as imaginative escapism has led me full circle back to life. Maybe artists do pay attention to the important things. -Eleanor Blair
Life is a copycat and can be bullied into following the master artist who bids it come to heel. -Heywood Broun
We have art in order not to die of life. -Albert Camus
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. -George Carlin
Without imagination and inspiration, expressed artistically, there is no life worth living. -Ginia A. Davis
It is not a matter of painting life. It's a matter of giving life to a painting. -Richard Diebenkorn
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again, since it is life.
-William Faulkner
Many artists have said that when life itself becomes fully conscious, art as we know it will vanish.
-Marilyn Ferguson
Life is so horrible that one can only bear it by avoiding it. And that can be done by living in the world of art. -Gustave Flaubert
Life is the art of drawing without an eraser. -John W. Gardner