Top 45 Great Artist Quotes

John Cougar Mellencamp – I didn’t like him in the beginning. I liked some of the stuff around the ‘Scarecrow’ period. I go back and forth on him all the time, but I think he’s a good artist. I don’t know if he’s a great artist or not, but he rose above his original level of achievement.

A great artist is never poor.

Against expectations I was charmed by Gehry’s Edgemar development, which housed the Santa Monica Museum of Art, and positively awed by the Bilbao Guggenheim. That Gehry is a great artist I have no doubt, but talent and determination are no warrant against confusion, nor are they a guaranty to produce great art.

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.

The great artist is the man who most obviously succeeds in turning his pains to advantage, in letting suffering deepens his understanding and sensibility, in growing through his pains.

A great artist transforms our world, removes scales from our eyes, plugs from our ears, gloves from our fingertips, teaches us to perceive reality differently.

Real talent is mixing realism with bluff. Every great artist I really respect has a certain amount of bluff; sooner or later you have to be a conjurer, and conjure images.

The great poet is a great artist. He is painter and sculptor. The greatest pictures and statues have been painted and chiseled with words. They outlast all others.

My favorite song I ever wrote is ‘Yeah 3x’ because it was my first placement. It was with a great artist, Chris Brown, and I couldn’t believe it at the time. Honestly, I still can’t really believe it! It is the first time someone ever gave me a shot, so that is my favorite.

I like ‘4:44.’ It’s a good album. AY-Z’s a great, great artist.

I keep a steady supply of paintbrushes and canvases. I like to paint. I’m not some great artist.

Can a great artist be mean-spirited, grasping, harsh to his family, violent in his emotions, vindictive in his hatreds, an all-purpose scoundrel? If our test cases are the likes of Wagner, Picasso, and, let me say, Dickens, the answer is a resounding yes.

When a great artist gets my attention, I pursue it. If I don’t, someone else will, you know what I’m saying?

I contend that if it wasn’t for Jimi, the gadgets we use for electric guitars now wouldn’t have happened. He was an inventor, in a sense – as well as being great artist.

What distinguishes a great artist from a weak one is first their sensibility and tenderness; second, their imagination, and third, their industry.

Memory is a great artist. For every man and for every woman it makes the recollection of his or her life a work of art and an unfaithful record.

Well, in order for me to be successful… In order to be a great artist – musician, actor, painter, whatever – you must be able to be private in public at all times.

In order for me to be successful… In order to be a great artist – musician, actor, painter, whatever – you must be able to be private in public at all times. That is what we do.

The key to the mystery of a great artist is that for reasons unknown, he will give away his energies and his life just to make sure that one note follows another… and leaves us with the feeling that something is right in the world.

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

I am not a great cook, I am not a great artist, but I love art, and I love food, so I am the perfect traveller.

Beyonce is a beautiful, elegant woman who is also a wonderful dancer. And her voice is sublime. Just like her husband, Jay-Z, Beyonce has real talent. They are both the kind of truly great artist who will be remembered by history. Their child will be lucky to have such talented parents.

The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.

I’d want to direct a video for Yoko Ono. As long as I got to work with Yoko Ono someday, I’d be really happy. I just think she’s such a great artist – it would just be so nice.

It’s very important that an artist’s job is to be a great artist.

Crumb was such an influence on me. He’s such a visionary, such a great artist, that he so shaped my artistic sensibilities on a certain level that I do owe everything to him. The way I see the world is largely changed by him.

I am not a great artist like Maradona was with regards to on-the-field matters.

You can only be the great artist for so long – come out with effort after effort that garners all this praise.

I remember being influenced by great artists when I was a kid – not to call myself a great artist – but people who I thought were great enough that they really made a difference. And so I would never want to be disappointed by them, and I want to make sure I never disappoint audience.

My story is really an affirmation of my strength and my luck. To live with a great artist like Ted Hughes or Mick Jagger is a very, very destructive role for a woman trying to be herself. In fact, it can’t be done.

A great artist can paint a great picture on a small canvas.

You need pencil miles to be a great artist, animator, or filmmaker, and the sooner you start making mistakes, the quicker you learn.

I was in Barcelona working with Shakira, and it was an amazing experience. She’s a great artist, and I learned a lot while working with her.

A great artist is always before his time or behind it.

My music library has about every genre of music possible. I’ve really gotten into Ray LaMontagne, He makes amazing music, so I listen to him, and he’s a great artist.

The quality of our lives is diminished every time we lose a great artist. It’s a different world without Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Curtis Mayfield, Brian Jones and the rest.

I was only to see Mr. Chaplin once after ‘The Kid.’ A great artist, one of the greatest, but I’m afraid I don’t think very much of him as a man. Running away from the country that gave him everything and denouncing the country in addition is something you simply can’t make any allowances for.

Pollock was well known, certainly, but for all the wrong reasons. He was known as much for being wild and unconventional in his working methods as for being a great artist.

The first time I sang with David Daniels… I had never performed with a countertenor before. That first time was magic, it was so beautiful. And he’s such a great artist.

I wish I was a great writer or a great journalist or a great scientist or a great artist; I’m not.

I guess I am ruthless too because that’s what makes a great artist. But I also respect people, I don’t go around stepping on their heads.

What I really think about Banksy is I think he’s a genius; he’s a great artist, and I like his stuff. But he’s got to accept it if, from time to time, someone will need to paint over his work.

I am a leader. Leaders always get heat. They’re always going against the grain. Jimi Hendrix got heat; Bob Marley got heat; Miles Davis got heat. Every great artist got heat. Heat means you’re doing something right.

Halsey’s a really great artist – her voice is great, and she has a really cool message behind her songs.

If they’re not temperamental, I don’t want them. It’s in the nature of a great artist to be that way.